Skip to main content

Full text of "Odorographia : a natural history of raw materials and drugs used in the perfume industry : intended to serve growers, manufacturers and consumers"

See other formats 


SED PAGS Ne Oe Bye 


Wie 


ea 


LE. 


ef 


a fy 
a 


SE 


Paeh 
lye 


ceed 


a. 
Bayxs 


pet 
pee 


rma perce arte tse nS stot 9 selgat ah e SUITS igs Oe ae a oS pr TY Ey tat i a 


ne th Bt és 3 . AFF IES ui Renad ot we y eet h aleresemnew nine 
Pa dienes ¢ } yah ah) i reat anes _ Tec 


 ODOROGRAPHIA, 
| A NATURAL HISTORY 


OF 


RAW MATERIALS AND DRUGS 


PERFUME INDUSTRY. 


>: 
INTENDED TO SERVE GROWERS, MANUFACTURERS, AND 
Sig : CONSUMERS. 


BY 
a 


J2Cu! SAWER, F.LS. 


(Successors to Mr. VAN VOORST.) 


MDCCCXCII. 


PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, 


RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 


PREFACE. 


An endeavour has here been made to collect together into one 
Manual the information which has hitherto been only obtainable 
by reference to an immense number of Works and Journals, 
English and Foreign, in many cases inaccessible to readers in- 
terested in the subject. 

Information has also been obtained first-hand from some of the 
largest growers and manufacturers of Grasse, Nice, and localities 
in the Straits Settlements and West Indies. 

In dealing with such a multitude of subjects, concision and 
abruptness of style are unavoidable—otherwise the Work would 
be inordinately bulky and expensive; but copious references are 
given for the convenience of such readers who may desire to 
examine more fully into the botanical and chemical details of the 
matter abstracted. 

The physical and chemical properties of pure products are 
described in order to enable purchasers and consumers to detect 
adulterations, few substances being subjected to such extensive 
adulterations as drugs. 

Methods of extraction and abstracts of Patent Specifications are 
given for the benefit of those who may wish to learn the rudiments 


a2 


iv PREFACE. 


of a profitable business,—and at the same time they may be 
suggestive to inventors, in the way of making improvements 
thereon. This information is given, as far as possible, up to date. 
To another class of readers residing in our Colonies some hints 
are given as to the profitable nature of the cultivation of certain 
drug-producing plants. The Government of Victoria has recently 
called attention to this subject, money awards amounting to 
£25,000 having been voted to pioneers of certain agricultural 
industries, of which Flower-farming of this description is one*. 
The author is still engaged upon studies in this department, 


and hopes to publish another volume in due course. 


* Report No. 2, Royal Commission on Vegetable Products of Victoria. Mel- 
bourne, 1892. 


JAN & J IU 


INT HRODUCT TO Ne 


No EXTERNAL sense is so intimately connected with the internal 
sense of perception as that of smell, and none are more capable of 
receiving such delicate impressions. No sensation can be remem- 
bered in so lively a manner as those which are recalled by peculiar 
odours, which are frequently known to excite our emotion to a 
degree which influences our physical and moral propensities. 
Truly, the memories of the past, fond or sad, are recalled to sen- 
sitive minds by music, but not so keenly as by some particular 
perfume—possibly because the bulk of humanity is deficient 
(morally or physically) m the power of appreciating musical har- 
mony. The idea of the harmony of musical tones can be conveyed 
from one mind to another by printed characters, although the 
poetry or soul of it cannot be conveyed to a mind unconstituted 
for its reception, but it is impossible to convey in any way what- 
ever the idea of an odour, perfume, or flavour, except by com- 
parison. 

The acuteness of the sensation of smell in animals is marvellous. 
The distance at which a dog tracks his master is scarcely credible. 
Birds of prey scent the battle-field at prodigious distances. Pliny 
even affirms that crows have so acute a sense of approaching corrup- 
tion, that they can scent death three days before actual dissolution, 
and sometimes pay the moribund a visit before lis time to avoid 
disappomtment. This may have originated a superstition existing 
in most countries, that such a visit forebodes death. 

The sense of smell is probably the leading sensorial endowment 


vi INTRODUCTION. 


of most insects, and it is acute in some fishes, as, for example, the 
shark, which is the most active, if not the most intelligent, of 
fishes. The olfactory membrane of the shark, if spread out, would 
cover some twelve square feet. : 

As insects breathe in a very different manner from the larger 
animals, namely, by a number of spiracles along each side of the 
body, it becomes a question of some difficulty where their organs 
of smell are situated. We cannot easily conceive of smell being 
produced except by a current of air, in which odoriferous particles 
are diffused, passing through a moistened channel; and yet an 
opinion has been adopted by Cuvier, Duméril, Lehmann, and 
others that the spiracles, or breathing-holes, of insects are their 
organs of smell, and chiefly by reason that the inspiration of air 
seems to be an indispensable condition of smelling. If it should 
be argued that this organ must be near the mouth to serve as a 
guide as to the quality of food, Lehmann answers (‘ De usu An- 
tennarum,’ p. 31) that this is not so requisite in insects, because 
they are usually so much smaller than their food, and frequently 
even reside in what they eat, and many therefore smell as advan- 
tageously with the tail as with the head. De Blainville decides 
more positively than the facts seem to authorize that the antennze 
are the organs of smell (‘ De Organisation des Animaux’). The 
modification, he remarks, of the skin which invests them is, in 
general, olfactory only in a small degree, this power appearing to 
be more vivid in the thickest portion of the organ, where it is 
more soft and tender, as in the carrion beetles (Necrophaga), which 
possess so delicate a sense of smelling. From spiders being des- 
titute of antennze he thinks it very difficult to conceive where the 
seat of their organ of smell is placed, if, indeed, they possess one, 
which he is disposed to doubt. Crabs and lobsters, on the other 
hand, whose scent is very delicate, are furnished with two pairs of 
antenne. The varied effects of different odours on bees were ex- 
perimentally ascertained by Huber in numerous instances (Huber 
on Bees), amongst which he says :—“ We sprinkled some powdered 
musk on a drop of honey, into which some bees thrust their 


INTRODUCTION. vil 


suckers as if by stealth, for they kept as far back from it as pos- 
sible; but although they often appeared to suck it, we did not 
perceive it to become less in a quarter of an hour, long before 
which it would have disappeared had it not been mixed with musk.” 
Pounded asafcetida, whose odour is so disagreeable to us, upon 
being mixed with honey and put at the entrance of a hive, did not 
seem to annoy the bees, for they greedily sucked all the honey, 
neither attempting to withdraw, nor vibrating their wings, till 
they only left the particles of the gum. Huber found (ibid. p. 269) 
that the odour of their own poison had a very remarkable effect 
on bees. The sting of one was extracted and presented to some 
workers before the entrance of a hive. Although they had 
previously been quiet and tranquil, they became all at once much 
agitated. None flew away, but two or three darted against the 
sting, and one furiously assailed the experimenters. That it was 
the odour of the sting-poison alone which produced these violent 
emotions was obvious from their appearing insensible to its 
presence when it lost its scent by drying. In another instance bees 
were confined in a glass tube and irritated with an awn of barley, 
till they protruded their stings and left some poison on the sides 
of the glass. The mouth of the tube was then presented to a group 
of bees at the entrance of a hive and it soon produced the agitation 
of rage evidently unaccompanied with fear. 

Bomare relates an experiment (Dict. raisonné d’Hist. Nat., art. 
Punaise) to prove that the bed-bug (Cimewx lectularius) is not at- 
tracted, as popularly supposed, by heat, but by smell. He put a 
bug into an empty bed-chamber, and throwing himself upon the 
bed, perceived that the insect was not long in smelling him out 
and making a direct course towards his face. These insects form 
a very extensive family (Cimicide), and it is by no means im- 
probable that they and many other insects employ the offensive 
odours which nature has enabled them to discharge to produce 
effects of terror upon their enemies. The foetor of the various 
species of bugs is always similar, though their food is so various. 
The pretty little beetles called “ ladybirds ” (Coccinellidz), of 


Vill INTRODUCTION. 


which children are so fond, emit a similar, though not quite so 
offensive an odour. The rove-beetles (Staphylinidz), in addition 
to their threatening and formidable attitudes, emit a very dis- 
agreeable odour, though it is not quite so bad as that of others 
(Silphidee) which feed on carrion. The “church-yard beetle” 
(Blaps mortisaga) has been noted for the same circumstance since 
the time of Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxix. 6). Some bees (Andrenide) 
have a strong smell of garlic, which may probably be disagreeable 
to their various enemies (Kirby, ‘ Monographia,’ 1. p. 136). The 
very beautiful caterpillar of the swallow-tailed butterfly (Papilio 
Machaon, Linn.) possesses a curious organ supposed to be intended 
for the similar purpose of defence ; it is of a dark orange colour, 
and is always concealed within one of the black rings on the 
shoulders, unless the creature be irritated, when it darts it out to 
the extent of about an inch and at the same time emits a strong 
odour resembling fennel. This may be intended to intimidate 
the ichneumons from depositing their parasite eggs in its body, 
or to warn off the thrushes or other creatures from devouring it. 
Although the sense of smel] in man is very inferior to that 
developed in animals yet it is marvellously delicate, as some recent 
experiments made by Professor Vallentine prove :—He found that 


a current of air containing of a milligramme of oil of rose 


mie 
could be perceived by the sense of smell. He also ascertained 
that the amount of odoriferous air which must pass over the 
olfactory membrane in order to excite the sense of smell was from 
;|, to + of a pint ; he calculated, therefore, that the actual amount 
of oil of rose necessary to excite the sense of smell was about 
—~. of a grain. The power of perceiving the presence of 


zoldt of Erlangen have found that air containing Ear = of a 


000,000 
milligramme of this compound to the cubic centimétre of air could 
: ee 1 
be appreciated, and it was estimated that only 460,000,000 of a 
milligramme of mercaptan is necessary to excite a sensation of 

smell. 


The pleasant odour of the soil has been traced by Berthelot, the 


INTRODUCTION. 1X 


distinguished French chemist, to a minute trace of a camphorated 
body the exact constitution of which has not yet been determined. 
It is so odorous that even a trillionth of a milligramme gives a 
perceptible smell. 

It may seem surprising that the delicate organs of the sense of 
smell should remain unimpaired over a number of years and 
uninjured by thoughtless and careless usage, but, as a matter of 
fact, they do suffer in acuteness by such causes, although not to 
such an extent as the organs of sight. 

The sense of smell is not equally developed in mankind ; on 
the average it is much more delicate in males than in females, but 
the degree of keenness ranges widely as between individuals ; thus, 
in an experiment on record, three male observers were able to 
detect 1 part of prussic acid in 2 million parts of water, though in 
this proportion its presence was not revealable by a chemical test ; 
others, of both sexes, could not detect prussic acid in solutions of 
almost overpowering strength. 

Few people have perfect sight, the focal range of one eye generally 
differing from that of the other ; many people are conscious of this 
defect, and to balance the inconvenience wear a glass in one eye ; 
many are unconsciously partially colour-blind (some totally so, 
as proved by recorded examinations of men, applying for work as 
engine-drivers, not being able to distinguish between red and 
green) ; also very many are unconsciously deficient as regards their 
olfactory sense and the sense of taste which is dependent upon it. 

On placing a sapid substance in the mouth and at the same time 
closing the nostrils, the sensation of taste is suspended, conse- 
quently persons with an imperfect sense of smell have also an 
imperfect sense of taste. Some substances have a strong taste 
without any or without much scent. Odour which accompanies 
taste is termed flavour. Flavour has been defined as an inter- 
mediate sensation between taste and smell. 

Some races, such as Ethiopians and North-American Indians, 
are remarkable for the acuteness of their sense of smell, ac- 
counting for their wonderful power in tracking enemies. This 


x INTRODUCTION. 


perfection is in a great measure attributable to their mode of 
living ; hunting and war are their chief pursuits, to which they 
are trained from their earliest childhood, and, although often 
subject to privation, their hardy vigorous life in the free air is 
healthful in the highest degree; their physical faculties are 
developed by constant practice. The senses of sight and hearing 
in these wanderers are as singularly perfect as their sense of 
scent. Such perfection is quite unknown to dwellers in cities, 
whose physical faculties are deteriorated by luxurious habits of 
civilization, idleness, sedentary toil, disease, and other causes and 
curses, 

The organic compound mercaptan above referred to is intensely 
powerful in odour, otherwise it could not be perceived by such 
minute molecules of its vapour. Although a laboratory product, 
it occurs in nature in the plant Allium ursinum, a species of onion. 
In small quantities the flavour of onions is pleasant, but the odour, 
even in very small quantities, is to most people unpleasant. 

The Allium ursinum, sometimes called “‘ Ramson’s garlic,” is 
frequently found in shady meadows; it diffuses when in flower an 
odour of garlic, and imparts this flavour to the milk of the cows 
that feed upon it. This odour, occurring in different degrees of 
strength in most alliaceous plants, appears to be mainly due to the 
presence of a sulphide of allyl, the principal constituent of essen- 
tial oil of garlic. The difference between oil of garlic and oil of 
asafoetida seems to be that the plant furnishing this last contains 
a larger proportion of sulphur, consequently develops the odorous 
principle in a more offensive degree. A number of plants belong- 
ing to the genus Ferula possess an alliaceous odour ; it is most 
intense in the Ferula fetidissima (Regel), which also secretes 
more asafcetida than any other asafcetida plant. The Scorodosma 
fetida, a gigantic umbelliferous plant found in the sandy Steppes 
east of the Caspian, and closely allied to the Ferula, is also said to 
furnish a sort of gum asafcetida. On cutting into the upper part 
of the root a juice exudes, which hardens by exposure. Persians 
and other Asiatics use it as a condiment; they even call it “ the 


INTRODUCTION. x1 


food of the gods,” in strange contrast to the appellation which its 
disgusting odour has merited for it amongst Europeans, viz. 
“ Devil’s dung” or “ Stercus Diaboli.” 

Vanillin has been prepared from asafeetida. The possibility of 
deriving it from this plant was suggested by Tiemann, who showed 
its connection with ferulic acid *. 

The curious way in which very dissimilar odours are generated 
in the same plant is exemplified by the Tritelia uniflora, a hand- 
some white-flowered species of Lily from Buenos Ayres; it has a 
delicate odour of violets, but when bruised this is quite over- 
powered by an odour of garlic. There is some obscure cause 
connecting these odours; it is stated that Cassie flowers (Acacia 
Farnesiana), possessing an odour analogous to that of violets, have 
the singular property of imparting to the breath of those who eat 
them a strong odour of garlic, imperceptible to the user, but 
intolerable to all near him ; the root-bark of the same tree growing 
in the West Indies has the same alliaceous odour. 

Several species of Petiveria, such as the P. alliacea (the 
“ guinea hen-weed” of the West Indies), the P. tetrandra of 
Brazil, possess a strong odour of garlic. The root, wood, and 
leaves of the Seguiera alliacea have a powerful odour of garlic 
and asafcetida, as has also a Petiveria called Ajo del monte, found 
in the forests of Bolivia. Silver that has been in contact with 
iodoform, or which is even touched by the fingers after they have 
been in contact with iodoform, acquires a nauseous odour re- 
sembling that of garlic, which even becomes more perceptible 
upon rubbing the silver. A drop of saliva from a patient fully 
under the influence of iodoform is said to be sufficient to impart 
the odour to silver; also that the odour is evolved by the mere 
exposure of iodoform and silver in the neighbourhood of one 
another. The odour is not that of iodoform but is thought to 
be due to a decomposition product +. The Mycena alliacea, a 
fungoid plant, has a foetid smell of onions. Amongst other 


* Ph. Jnl. vi. p. 813, and xvii. p. 83. 
} Ibid. [3] xvii. p. 575. 


Xil INTRODUCTION. 


curious fungi the Clitophilus sinuata smells of burnt sugar, the 
Telamonia sublanatus and T. bulbosus both smell of radishes, the 
Dermocybe cucumis of cucumbers, the D. cinnamomeus of cin- 
namon, and the Micropus suaveolens of anise. The Tricholoma 
myomyces is generally called the “ Mouse-mushroom” on account 
of its mouse-like smell. The Astragalus caprinus, a perennial 
leguminous plant, native of Barbary, smeils of goats. The Orchis 
hircina also smells of goats, and the Orchis coriophora possesses 
the disgusting odour of bugs. The Psoralia bituminosa, which is 
abundant on the mountains of Languedoe, recalls the odour of tar 
or asphalte, the leaves of the Spirea Ulmaria that of carbolic acid. 

The Helleborus fatidus, or “Stinking Hellebore,” used to be 
grown in gardens as an effective remedy for groundworms. ‘The 
Ballota nigra, or “ Black Stinking Horehound,” an herbaceous 
labiate perennial, is often found in temperate climates near towns 
and villages, by the wayside, where it suffers little by beimg 
generally covered with dust; the whole plant is as offensive in 
odour as it is unattractive in appearance. The leaves of the 
Comocladia dentata (“the tooth-leaved maiden plum”) of the 
West Indies are very sensitive to injury ; when bruised they emit 
a sulphurous odour, and birds which happen to break them fall 
asphyxiated, it is only after a considerable time that they can fly 
away. The odour emitted by this tree when wounded has been 
compared to that of dung. It grows in Cuba, where the natives 
believe it is dangerous to sleep under its shade. 

The Anagyris fetida, a leguminous tree found in the South of 
France, Spain, Greece, and Cyprus, is perceptible at a distance by 
its streng odour of human excrements ; stercorarious flies deceived 
by the stench congregate in great numbers about it. ‘The leaves 
possess purgative properties, and are used by the peasantry in 
Greece as senna; they are then called “ pseudo-sinamiko,” false 
senna leaves. In Cyprus they are called Agriophaselo, or wild 
beans, by reason of the appearance of their fruit. Although the 
common name of this tree in English is “ Bean-trefoil,”’ the 
common names in French, German, and Dutch are all indicative 
of its offensive smell. 


INTRODUCTION. Xill 


The flowers of Sterculia fawtida * and the leaves of another 
species of Sterculia, both natives of the East Indies, emit the same 
abominable odour. The word Sterculia is derived from Stercus, 
“excrement.” The odour of the flowers of Pandanus fetidus, 
Roxburgh, a native of Bengal, is similarly offensive. The wood of 
Celtis reticulosa of Java also possesses a fecal odour. This, and 
other Javan trees such as Premna corymbosa, P. fetida, and 
Saprosoma arboreum, are all three distinguished by the same local 
name, Ki-tari, meaning ‘‘ Stink-wood,” because they all smell very 
bad. 

The Arum dracunculus, producing a large liver-coloured flower, 
exhales a stink of carrion so strong that few persons can endure 
it; in fact the similarity is so striking that blow-flies, carrion- 
flies, and other nauseous insects which frequent slaughter- 
houses mistake this flower for putrefied meat and ‘come to it 
from all quarters to deposit their eggs. The appearance of this 
flower is hideous ; it is not at all uncommon, and is often cata- 
logued by Englsh nurserymen. There are other plants which 
from their abominable odour are called carrion-plants, yet whose 
blossom exhibits considerable beauty, and they are extensively 
cultivated on that account, such as the Stapelias, a genus of 
Asclepiadaceee, natives of the Cape; their branches are mostly 
4-angled, toothed, and spiny, resembling Euphorbias. One of the 
finest of the species is the S. asterias. 

The Stapelia gigantea from South Africa has a smgular resem- 
blance to a star-fish in appearance, the five fleshy lobes of the 
corolla being of a biscuit-colour, with close, wavy, red veins, and 
the centre of the flower crimson. It is known, from its evil odour, 
as the “ great carrion-flower.’” The Phallus fotidus, a fungus, is 
equally distinguished. 

At a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society an 
enormous flower of a species of Aristolochia was exhibited from 
Kew. The flower was 22 inches long by 18 inches broad, and had 
a tail 34 inches long; it was of a creamy tint flushed with rose, 


* Rheede, Mal. iv. t. 36, 


X1V INTRODUCTION. 


and was marbled with purpled veins and had a velvety-black 
throat. The plant has been identified by Mr. Hemsley as Aristo- 
lochia gigas, Lindley, and is said to be very nearly allied to 
A. grandiflora, Linn., a species described by Dr. L. Planchon as 
distinctly poisonous to animals, and evidently possessing very 
marked properties. This, like several of the allied species, pos- 
sesses a foetid odour like that of decaying animal matter, which 
doubtless causes insects to visit the flowers and cross-fertilize them. 
An illustration of the flower of the A. gigas is given in the 
‘Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ Nov. 7, 1891, p. 553. 

The “ Bladder-headed Saussurea,” an Alpime herbaceous plant 
belonging to the thistle group, has this smell of putrid meat. 
The Arum muscivorum not ouly gives off a similar effluvium, but 
it is furnished with hairs bending inwards in such a way as to offer 
no opposition to the entrance of flies but quite prevents their 
escape, so forming a trap in which they perish. 

A chemical examination of the bark of the Rhus aromatica, 
which is called the “ Fragrant Sumach” or “ Stink-bark,” was 
made by H. W. Harper and reported in the ‘American Journal 
of Pharmacy’? in May 1881. He obtained, by distillmg it with 
water, an essential oil having a disgusting odour resembling very 
much that of bed-bugs, but on being mixed with ether and the 
ether allowed to evaporate, the remaining oil left in contact with 
air for 24 hours acquired a pleasant odour distinct in itself. 

There is a fungus or Morel of the Marchella species which on 
being bruised smells of roast beef, and several varieties of “Cranes- 
bill” smell like roast mutton. 

The Durio zibethinus, native of the East Indies, is a very re- 
markable tree. Its fruit, which is about the size of a man’s head, 
is said to be the most delicious of all the fruits of India; the edible 
part of it most resembles whipped cream or “ blanc-mange” of our 
tables, but a considerable drawback from the extreme gratification 
it procures to the palate of the epicurean is its intolerable stench ; 
even the rinds emit such an offensive effluvium that it used to be 
forbidden by law to throw them out near any public path. Some 


INTRODUCTION. Xv 


compare this smell to putrid animal substances, others to that of 
rotten onions, but all agree that, if the first repugnance be once 
overcome, no fruit is more enticing than the Durion. The tree 
grows to a height of 80 feet. 

The Chenopodium olidum, or “Stinking Goosefoot,” has long 
been known for its disagreeable odour, which is compared to that 
of putrid salt-fish. If a portion of the plant be distilled with a 
solution of common soda the distillate smells strongly of boiled 
crabs, herring-brine, or haddocks which have long been kept—due 
to the presence of trimethylamine. If herring-brine be distilled 
in thesame way with soda the same volatile compound passes over, 
thus proving that the same chemical compound which imparts its 
offensive odour to dead or decaying fish is formed in the living 
plant of “ Stinking Goosefoot.” Propylamine, which is isomeric 
with trimethylamine, also possesses this fishy odour, and it has 
been found in the flowers of Crategus oxyacantha, C. monogyna, 
Pyrus communis, and Sambus Aucuparia. The odour of these 
flowers has often been thought to resemble that of decaying fish. 
This fishy odour has also been observed in the aqueous distillate 
of English rosemary, and freshly-distilled oil of rosemary is tainted 
with it until the watery particles held in mechanical suspension 
are deposited by rest or dried out by calcic chloride. 

The Nepeta cataria, or “Cat mint,” possesses an odour so de- 
lightful to cats that it is almost impossible to cultivate the plant 
in town gardens, for as soon as the cats in the neighbourhood smell 
it they rush in numbers to roll on it, and after having well broken 
it down with their convulsive capers, they finish by tearing it to 
pieces with their teeth. These animals have also a great liking for 
the odour of melons, and especially so for valerian. 

Dogs take great delight in smelling the Chenopodium vulvaria ; 
they roll on it, and the fcetid odour exhaled by the plant excites 
them to such an extent as to provoke urinary excretion. 

Toads are attracted by the odour of Stachys palustris. 

Mention is made by Mr. Louis Piesse of a tree known in Central 
Australia as the “Stinking Acacia,” by reason of the putrescent 


XV1 INTRODUCTION. 


odour of its blossoms; but in singular contrast to this unpleasant 
smell is the agreeable fragrance of its wood, on account of which 
it is termed in Western Australia (where the wood is marketed) 
“Raspberry Jam ” wood, from some resemblance in its fragrance 
to the odour of that well-known preserve ; the wood is described 
as of a dark colour, very similar in appearance to rosewood, very 
heavy, sinking in water like a stone, and so hard when dry as to 
turn the edge of a saw or chisel. The leaves are said to yield no 
perceptible smell when fresh, but after 48 hours of bemg plucked 
to emit a strong unpleasant odour, something like rotten cabbage. 
A slab of the wood of this tree was exhibited at the Colonial 
Exhibition. 

The Pogostemon purpuricaulis, a tall fruticose labiate, possesses 
in all its parts a strong odour of black currants ; it is a perennial ; 
its smooth leaves are often 6 inches long, broadly ovate, acumi- 
nate, and serrated. The plant is very common in Kokun. 

The Gaillardia scabiosoides, a bushy plant about 15 inches 
high, growing in dense masses on low clay plams on the western 
side of temperate S. America, has blossoms which possess a strong 
odour of ripe apricots. 

The alcoholic extract of the bark of Colubrina reclinata (“ Snake- 
wood” of Martinique) , when boiled with very dilute acid, gives off 
an odour exactly resembling ripe raspberries. 

As a general principle, a larger proportion of white flowers 
are fragrant than those of any colour, yellow comes next, then 
red, blue, violet, green, orange, brown, and black. Orange and 
brown are frequently unpleasant in scent, white flowers very rarely 
so. It must be remembered, however, that odours are differently 
appreciated by different people, and what pleases one person may 
have a reverse effect on another ; thus the strong odour of Tagetes 
Patula (French Marigold) and T. erecta (African Marigold) is not 
unpleasant to some, while others consider it very objectionable. 

Many flowers have a strong odour of honey ; it is very powerful 
in those of the Asclepias Syriaca; they are much visited by the 
bee. The odour of honey or brown sugar is noticeable in the 
“ Sweet Scabious,”’ also in the aquatic Ranunculi and in some 


INTRODUCTION. Xvil 


varieties of Lotus. (The words Lotus or Water-Lily, the Latin 
lotus ‘‘ washed,” and the English lotion “awash,” are expressed in 
India by the word /ota, which is there applied to a globular brass 
bowl, sometimes melon-shaped, with a long narrow neck, universally 
used in ceremonial and other ablutions.) 

The flowers of the well-known yellow Water-Lily, Nuphar lutea, 
a plant which is common in most parts of Britain, and frequently 
grown in ornamental waters, have a curious alcoholic odour, hence 
the name “ Brandy-bottle ” which is applied in some counties to 
this plant; the flowers are used by the Turks in the preparation of 
cooling drinks. The same peculiar odour of brandy is also found 
in the yellow catkins of the Saliz caprea, the “ Goat Willow.” 

The Hippocrepis comosa, a sort of “ Horse-shoe Vetch,” 
common on chalky soils, recalls the smell of cheese, an odour 
which is also observable in the blossoms of Genista Scoparia, a 
thorny shrub, native of Spain ; to some persons the odour of this 
flower is more like that of the fruit of the cocoa-nut. The leaves 
of the Philadelphus Coronarius have an odour and flavour precisely 


resembling cucumbers. 
Some odours are developed by desiccation, as Deer’s-tongue 


leaves, Hedychium root, and Iris root; and some by partial fer- 
mentation, as Vanilla pods, Patchouli, tobacco, and tea leaves. 

The leaves of Scopolia luridus (Dunal), a solonaceous plant of 
Nepaul and the Himalaya, emit a tobacco-like odour. 

The Hedyosmum nutans (Swartz), called the “Tobacco bush” 
in Jamaica, is a common plant on the hills about Port Royal and 
on the Blue Mountains at an elevation of 5000 to 6000 feet above 
the sea. The aromatic oil distilled from it certainly has an odour 
somewhat like that of cake “ honey-dew ” tobacco. The Critonea 
Dalea, D.C., is another Jamaica plant locally called the “ Cigar 
bush”’* or “ Cigar-maker’s vanilla.’ Its odour recalls that of new- 
made hay and especially that of the Liatris odoratissima (“ Deer’s- 
tongue”), an herbaceous plant abundant in North Carolina and 
Florida, whose leaves are also used by tobacco-manufacturers for 
aromatising tobacco. 

* Samples of Tobacco-bush oil and Cigar-bush oil were in the Colonial 


Exhibition. They have been recommended for perfuming toilet-soaps. 


b 


hte Rae er 

¥ oe 
: : Siew een 

4 are est A eee 

ny reel! a. \, bones aia! 

1 hae \ i a 


' 


7? ee 


Md no — 
o./9im Mehul ..: cee! 
s i iti 
<4 Pipe ow ) Ae 
- } : 7 ee “eres 2 
¥ ; re 
im # 


Fie. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 


APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BULGARIAN Orto oF Roser 
ENTHRTORIOH SLUNE-ROONMAT GcRASSE sisson cele G eaceelsioaie oo eereeiane 
SKETCH-MAP OF THE Bungartan Rose-FaRMiNG District .. To face 
LEAF OF PELARGONIUM CULTIVATED AT GRASSE .........cccsccees 
TVR RISeAPPAR AUS) ROR: oe MAC HRAUNTONG 7 tet ofavsicveleie/e! sie) sisleieleletteteitoe etl 
PiveR Ss APPARATUS ROR) ENEDRURAGEH 9 cece ooo + sioc scien ss ness 
APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTION OF OILS FROM CITRUS FRUITS .......... 


ILLUSTRATING THE PROCESS OF ARTIFICIAL FECUNDATION OF THE 
AW BAUNITSTAT: ACHE: OO WVGIS Pa cteaietetes ha ai ce obs. ai. ci ci-ai ov aust ds Weasel os etal aku (everas 6: cual sietaPekel sens 


APPARATUS FOR ESTIMATING RECTIFICATION RESIDUE OF CAssIA OIL .. 
FLower or Pogostemon Patchouli anv or P. Heyneanum .......... 
AGHA OR eLOgOstCInOi. LGLCROULL,, 4. actiaanatananls » S/ae Me iw eis wicks Sel ateend xg 
MicROSCOPICG SECTIONS OF PATCHOULT THAR jo. s.ceseeecee eos ee ci 
LavENDER (Lavandula vera) ; APPEARANCE IN JULY ....++..eeeee 


DINO APPRARANGE TN} MUARGE 1% cepeys. 6 sunie nae ¢ s.clsceia ee slorneepensiels 


30 


were 


LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS REFERRED TO, AND 


ABBREVIATIONS. 


American Journal of Pharmacy. 

Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 

Annales de Chimie et de Physique. 

Apotheker Zeitung. 

Archives der Pharmacie. 

Asiatic Researches. 

Aublet, Histoire des Plantes de la Guiane Frangaise. 

Baillon, Dictionnaire de Botanique. 

Bentham & Hooker, Genera Plantarum. 

Bentley & Trimen, Medicinal Plants. 

Bericht von Schimmel & Co. in Leipzig. 

Berichte der Deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft. 

Blanco, Flora de Filipinas. 

Blume, Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie. 

Ditto, Flore Jave. 

Bulletin de la Société Chimique. 

Cavyanilles, Monadelphiz classis dissertationes. 

Chemist & Druggist. 

Comptes Rendus des Séances de l’Académie des 
Sciences. 

Consular Reports—various, 

Cooke, Report on the Gum-resins in the India 
Museum. 

Curtis, Botanical Magazine. 

DeCandolle, Prodromus Systematis Naturalis. 

Don, Prodromus flor nepalensis. 

Drury’s Useful Plants of India. 

Dunal, Monographie de la Famille des Anonacées. 

Dupetit Thouars, Orchidées d’ Afrique. 

Dymock, Materia Medica of Western India. 

Edwards, Botanical Register. 

Fliickiger & Hanbury, Pharmacographia. 

Ditto, ditto. French edition, “ Histoire des Drogues.” 

Forskal, Descriptiones plantarum flores Ayyptico- 
Ayrabicee. 

Geertner, De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. 

Gallesio, Traité du Citrus. 


Am. Journ. Pharm. 
Ann. Chem. Pharm. 
Ann. Chim. Phys. 
Apot. Zeit. 

Archiv. der Pharm. 
As. Res. 

Aubl. Guian. 


Schimmel. 
Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. 


Blume, Bijdr. 
Blume, Flor. Jav. 
Bull. Soc. Chim. 
Cav. Dis. 


Comptes Rendus. 


Bot. Mag. 

DC. Prodr. 

Don, Prod. 

Dunal, Mon. Anon. 
Dymock, Mat. Med. Ind. 
Bot. Reg. 

Forsk. Deser. 


Gaertner, Fruct. 
Gallesio. 


XXll LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS. 


Gardeners’ Chronicle. 

Gleditsch, Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences de Gled. Act. Soc. cur. Nat. 
Berlin. Berl. 

Guibourt, Histoire Naturelle des drogues simples. 

Hall’s Dictionary of the Economic Plants of India. 

Hooker’s ‘ Journal of Botany’ and ‘ Kew Miscellany.’ 

Hooker & Thomson, Flora Indica. 

Hooker, Flora of British India. 

Indian Agriculturist. 


Jacquin, Hortus botanicus vindobonensis. Jacq. Hort. Vind. 
Journal of the Indian Archipelago. 

Journal of the Linnean Society. Journ. Lin. Soc. 
Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

Journal de Pharmacie. Journ. de Pharm. 
Journal of the Chemical Society. Journ. Chem. Soe. 
Keempfer, Amcenitates exotice. Kempf. Amen. 
Kew Bulletin. 

Kunth, Genera terebenacearum. Kunth, Gen. Tereb. 
Lamarck, Illustrations des genres. Lam. Il. 

Ditto, Encyclopédie Méthodique, botanique. a ae i 
Lindley’s Flora Medica. 

Linneeus fil., Supplementum plantarum. Lin, Sup. 
Linneus, Amcenitates academice. Lin. Amen, 
Loureiro, Flora Cochinchinensis. { ; . 
Ditto, ditto, Ind ed. Edited by Willdenow. ( 


Oil and Drug News. 
Pharmaceutical Era. 


Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions. Pharm, Journ. 
Pharmaceutishe Centralhalle. Pharm. Centralh. 
Poggendorff’s Annalen. Pogg. Ann. 
Pomet, Histoire des drogues. 

Ray, Historia plantarum. Ray, Hist. plant. 
Répertoire de Chimie. 

Retzius, Observationes botanice. Retz, Obs. 

Risso, Histoire Naturelle des Orangers, Risso. 

Roscoe & Schorlemmer, Organic Chemistry. 

toxburgh, Plants of the Coast of Coromandel. Rox. Cor. 

Ditto, Hortus Bergalensis. Rox. Hort. Beng. 
Ditto, Flora Indica. Row. Fl. Ind. 
Royle, Illustrations of the Botany of the Himalayan Royle, Ill. Bot. Him. 

Mountains. 
Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinense. Rumph. Amb. 


Schlechtendal, Linnzea, ein Journal fiir die Botanik. Linnea. 
Silliman’s Journal. 

Sprengel, Systema Vegetabilium. Spreng. Syst. 
Swartz, Icones plantarum Indiz occidentalis. Swartz, Icones. 
Sweet, Hortus Britannicus, 


LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS. XX1i1 


Sweet, Geraniacez or Natural order of Geraniums. 


Tenore, Flora Napolitana. Teno. Fl. Nap. 
Transactions of Bombay Geographical Society. 
Transactions of Linnean Society of London. Trans. Lin. Soe. 
Transactions of Medical and Physical Society of Cal- 

cutta. 


Trommsdorf’s Journal of Pharmacy. 
Vahl, Symbolz botanicz. 
Valmont de Bomare, Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle. 


Van Rheede, Hortus Indicus Malabaricus. Rheed. Hort. Mal. 
Ventenat, Description des plantes nouvelles du jardin | Vent. Jard. Cels. 
de J. M. Cels. ) Vent. Cels. 


Wallich, Catalogue of dried specimens in Botanic Wall. Cat. 
Garden, Calcutta. 


Ditto, Plante rariores Asiatice. Wall. Plant, As. Rar. 

Wight & Arnott, Prodromus floree peninsule Indiz Wight § Arnott, Prodr. 
orientalis. 

Wight, Illustrations of Indian Botany. Wight, Ii. 

Willdenow, Species plantarum. Willd. Spec. 


Woodville, Medical Botany. 
Zeitschrift fiir physiologische Chemie. Zeitschrift. 


ODOROGRAPHIA. 


\ 


‘ \ t= 
"y ~ c \ ly" 


~ f + " at 
a _ \. NE on 


CHAPTER I. 
THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 


Tue excessive love of perfumes generally, and of strong perfumes 
especially, is only manifested by Orientals, but yet in Northern 
Europe there are often found people with an inordinate partiality 
for the odour of musk—pure, or in combination. This odour is 
very widely distributed in nature, being found developed in birds, 
beasts, fishes, insects, reptiles, and plants, yet its principle has not 
been isolated and is not understood. It is even produced artificially 
by chemical combinations, but the reason of its development is not 
apparent. 

The Musk of commerce, which may be taken as the type of this 
odour, is the dried secretion of the preputial follicles of the male 
Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus, Linn.). The Musk Deer is 
essentially a forest animal, inhabiting cold, mountainous districts 
on the Atlas and Himalayan ranges, at elevations above 8000 feet 
where coniferous plants abound. Although an inhabitant of the 
forest it is partial to woody ravines, and is frequently found on 
the spurs or projecting points jutting from the eternal snow-ranges 
at an altitude of from 10,000 to 14,000 feet. Itis found in Thibet, 
in Yun-nan, Sze-tchuen, and occasionally in Petsche-li (sometimes 
spelt Chih-li). 

The bag or pod containing the musk is situate near the navel, 
and is composed of several layers of thin skin. The pod varies in 

B 


2 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


size and shape according to the age of the animal and the time of 
year at which it is procured; the shape may be described as 
conical, oval, or pear-shaped. There is an orifice through the 
skin into which, by a slight pressure, the little finger will pass, but 
it has no connexion whatever with the body. It is probable that 
musk is at times discharged through this orifice, as the pod is often 
found not half full, and sometimes even nearly empty. The hairs 
are brownish yellow, or greyish, or whitish, bristle-like and stiff, 
arranged in a concentric manner around the orifice of the pod. 
The quality of the musk secreted in the pod varies considerably, 
the older the animal the more valuable the musk. Musk is only 
found in adult males, although the pouch destined to contain it is 
well-formed at birth. For the first two years of the animal’s life 
the pod only contains a soft milky substance with a disagreeable 
smell. When it first becomes musk there is not much more than 
an eighth of an ounce, and as the animal grows it increases in 
quantity. In some individuals as much as two ounces are found. 
An ounce may be considered the average from a full-grown 
animal, but as many of the deer are killed young, the pods in the 
market should contain on an average half an ounce. Though not 
so strong, the musk of young animals has a much pleasanter smell 
than that of old ones. The secretion is known to have a much 
stronger odour in animals that inhabit Thibet and China than in 
those which are found farther north in Siberia. 

Musk is also secreted by the Moschus Altaicus, another Musk 
Deer, inhabiting the mountainous Kirgesian and Sangorian steppes 
of the Altai on the river Irtysch. 

The principal depots of musk produced in Thibet and Annam, 
as far as Tonquin, are Ta-tsien-fu, in about 30° N. lat., west of 
the province of Sze-tchuen, Silung-chow in Kwang-si, and Wuting- 
chowin Yun-nan. The greater portion is carried to Chang-hai by 
river, where the pods are opened, emptied, and the contents, after _ 
being carefully adulterated, are replaced in the pods and sewn up. 

A description of the native method of drying the pod was given 
some years ago by Mr. Peake to the Pharmaceutical Society ; some 
extracts from that paper are here given:—“ The pod is cut from 
the deer with a portion of the outer skin, then pressed and dried 
on a hot stone to prevent putrefaction ; but by this heating process 
much of the odour is driven off, consequently its value to the 
perfumer greatly diminished.” It is further added :—“ It would. 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 3 


be a difficult matter for a native to resist the temptation of adul- 
terating and falsifying these pods. They cut the young pods 
containing no musk at all, and fill them with the liver and blood 
of the animal mixed with the yellow fluid (which age would have 
matured into musk), add a small portion of genuine musk, then 
sew up the skin and dry; or those which yield half a drachm to 
a drachm they mix and dry in like manner.” 

Pereira says:—“ The great sophisticators of musk are the 
Chinese ; they actually export artificial pods from Canton. The 
hairy portion of the sacs is formed of a piece of the skin of the 
musk animal (readily distinguishable by its remarkable hairs) 
coarsely sewn at the edges to a piece of membrane, which repre- 
sents the smooth or hairless portion of the sacs. These pods are 
distinguished from the genuine ones by the following characters : 
the absence of any aperture in the middle of the hairy coat; the 
hair not being arranged in a circular manner; and the absence of 
the remains of the penis (found in every genuine musk-sac). The 
odour of the false sacs is ammoniacal.” 

The grains of musk contained in the pods should be unctuous 
to the feel and of a dark reddish-brown colour. An infusion of 
genuine grain musk gives zo precipitate with a solution of bichloride 
of mercury, but does with tincture of nut-galls and acetate of lead. 
By incineration genuine musk leaves behind a greyish-white ash, 
whereas blood yields a reddish one. An imitation musk is pre- 
pared by rubbing in a mortar dried bullocks’ blood with caustic 
ammonia, and mixing the half-dried product with genuine musk. 
The substances generally used for adulteration, or to fill the 
counterfeit pods are said to be :—blood, boiled cr baked on the fire, 
then beaten to powder, kneaded into a paste, and made into grains 
and coarse powder to resemble genuine musk ; a piece of the liver 
or spleen prepared in the same manner ; dried gall and a particular 
part of the bark of the apricot tree, pounded and kneaded as above. 
Lentils, peas, pieces of leather are also common adulterants ; it is 
sometimes found mixed with particles of dark-coloured earth and 
pieces of lead, to increase the weight. 

The microscope is very useful for detecting adulteration in musk. 
The colour of the individual grains should not be reddish or reddish 
brown, but, even under the microscope, should appear deep brown 
or blackish brown. If isolated particles are glassy, jelly-like, and 
transparent, they indicate adulteration with coagulated blood. 

B2 


4. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The spirituous extract of musk and the infusion should not be 
reddish brown, but deep blackish brown. 

The Siberian or Russian musk (sometimes called Carbadine), 
and that coming from the Altai Mountains, is rarely adulterated 
to any extent, but its odour is much less powerful, being more 
nauseous and somewhat empyreumatic. The Assam musk occurs 
in very large pods, and is very strong, but considerably lower in 
value than the Tonquin or Chinese musk on the London Market, 
a result of the heavy adulteration to which it is subjected. 

The value of musk is subject to considerable fluctuation. At 
the beginning of 1883 Chinese pod-musk of poor quality realized 
105s. per oz. at public sale in London. The position of this 
market in 1891 may be gathered by the following extracts from 
Trade Reports :— 

“April 24, 1891.—Moscuus. Messrs. Gehe observe that con- 
fidence in Tonquin musk has gradually lessened, as the increased 
shipments of the last few months from Shanghai show. It is note- 
worthy that Paris, after a long pause, has again appeared in the 
réle of a large buyer. During 1890 the total shipments from 
Shanghai were 1072 catties below those of 1889, when the figure 
was 2266 catties. The firm do not think, however, that artificial 
musk had the least to do with bringing this about. In fact, the 
purchase of musk in China by Paris is taken as a proof that the 
artificial product is not suitable for use in perfumery. It is 
further stated that it does not answer even in the manufacture 
of soaps, as the odour is very unstable, and very soon entirely 
disappears.” 

“ April 23, 1892.—The price quoted at this date by wholesale 
London houses is 135s. to 145s. per oz. for Chinese grain- 
musk.’” 

The analysis of musk does not disclose any clue to the nature of 
its odoriferous principle. The various musky-scented substances 
derived from the Animal Kingdom are strongly suggestive of a 
condition of peculiar putrefaction or decay. There are instances 
in the Vegetable Kingdom of odorous principles being generated 
by similar causes—for instance, Oriental Lign-Aloes (or “ Hagle- 
wood”), Aquilaria Agallocha, 'The wood of this tree isimpregnated 
with a resinous matter often found collected in clots here and 
there throughout the stem; a fact which is in all probability due 
to a diseased condition of the tree, a condition which is in fact 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 5 


induced by wounding the tree in order to increase the formation 
or collection in nuclei of the resin. This condition is also brought 
about by burying pieces of the wood in damp soil. The substance 
cailed ambergris (afterwards described) is considered to result from 
a disease of the whale. In nature nothing dies—it simply changes; 
it takes another form ; additions cannot be made to, and nothing 
ean be subtracted from, the original total of the contents of this 
globe, otherwise the equilibrium would be instantly upset. 

The molecular particles of the odour of musk are so infinitely 
small, that for a long time loss of weight by exposure is in- 
appreciable. A little musk will impart a durable scent to every- 
thing in its immediate neighbourhood. This odour is so persistent, 
and has such power to resist decomposition, that when musk is 
taken internally as a medicine (as it very frequently is in the East), 
it passes through the pores of the skin and impregnates the per- 
spiration with its strong odour. ‘This odour of musk can be 
disguised by keeping it in capsules of wax, or in contact with lime, 
milk of sulphur, sulphuret of gold, or syrup of almonds, all of 
which have the power of concealing it: but it is at once restored 
by being moistened with a little liquid ammonia *. 

It is asserted that the odour is very powerfully increased by 
mixing the musk with alkaline salts, especially with carbonate of 
potash. Liquid ammonia has also been mentioned as exerting a 
revivifying effect on musk which has become partially exhausted ; 
but some observers refute the possibility of alkalies having the 
power of restoring or strengthening its odour, and assert that 
ammonia simply increases the volatility of musk. It is, however, 
an established fact that combination with soap intensifies it, and 
as soap is an oleate of soda or potash, this result is naturally 
attributed to alkaline reaction. 

When musk is moistened with water, the odour is more powerful 
than when in a dry state. Grain-musk is soluble in water to the 
extent of 90 per cent., and in alcohol to only 50 per cent. As a 
basis for toilet perfumes, musk is of great value by reason of its 
stability. By its great diffusibility it deserves the appellation of 
the ‘‘ wings” of the perfume to which it is added. 

For many years attempts have been made to imitate artificiaily 
the odour of musk. Experiments, successful to a certain extent, 


* Repert. fiir die Pharm. Band xxix. Heft 1, p. 51. 


6 ODOROGRAPHIA., 


were made by Margraff and by Elsner *. Coarse pieces of amber, 
reduced to powder and mixed with sand, are distilled in an iron 
retort; the oil which distils over is separated from the fetid liquor 
and succinic acid which accompanies it, and after being rectified 
at a gentle heat with about six times its volume of water, is 
gradually added to and digested with 31 parts by weight of fuming 
nitric acid, artificial cold being employed to prevent any portion 
of the oil being carbonized. An orange-yellow resinous matter 
forms, which, after being carefully dried, is the required product. 
It is also said to be formed by digesting for ten days one ounce of 
fetid animal oil, obtained by distillation, and half au ounce of 
nitric acid, then adding rectified spirit one pint, and digesting for 
a month. 

The crystalline substance now met with in commerce under the 
name of “ artificial musk,’ or “ Musk Baur,” is a trinitro deri- 
vative of butyl-toluene, produced by the action of nitric and 
sulphuric acids upon the hydrocarbon meta-butyl-toluene obtained 
from isobutyl bromide and toluene, and also found in resin-spiritt. 
A great number of homologues and isomerides have been prepared, 
but though many possess a musk-like odour, none have so great a 
technical value; it has therefore been found advisable to carefully 
purify the butyl-toluene for technical purposes. According to the 
English specification of Baur’s Patent (No. 4963, 21 Mar. 1889), 
this “ substitute ” for musk consists of a nitrated hydrocarbon of 
the C,,H,, group, for the formation of which five parts of toluene 
are mixed with one part of butyl bromide, or butyl chloride, or 
butyl iodide. To these may be added gradually, whilst boiling, 
one fifth part of aluminium chloride or aluminium bromide ; this 
results in the development of hydrobromie or hydrochloric or hy- 
driodic acid respectively, and a product of reaction is obtained 
from which, by the action of steam, the hydrocarbon C,,H,, and 
unchanged toluene are distilled. By the admission of steam the 
hydrocarbon is carried along, and may be obtained in a condenser 
as a colourless oil floating on water. The oil, removed and dried 
by means of chloride of calcium, is fractionated, and in this manner 
the necessary hydrocarbon for the production of artificial musk is 


* Journ. fiir praktische Chemie, 1842. 
+ ‘Comptes Rendus de l’Académie,’ cxi. pp. 238-240; Berichte Chem, Ges. 
xxiv. p. 2882; Pharm. J. li. p. 266, 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 7. 


obtained. One hundred parts of the former give a like quantity 
of musk preparation. Three parts of fuming nitric acid of 1°52 
sp. gr. and six parts of fuming sulphuric acid are mixed together, 
and to this mixture is carefully added, whilst cooling, one part of the 
hydrocarbon aforesaid. Each drop causes a violent reaction. As 
soon as all the hydrocarbon is added, the whole mixture is heated 
up to a temperature of about 100° C. After cooling, the nitro- 
product is precipitated by pouring into cold water of about five 
or six times the volume, and is separated from superfluous acid 
by washing with cold water. The nitro-product separates first as 
a heavy viscid oil, which after some time hardens into a firm crys- 
talline substance. The raw nitro-product is then purified by re- 
crystallization from alcohol of 90°/,. The pure product crystallizes 
out in yellowish-white needles possessing a strong smell of musk. 
It is insoluble in water, easily soluble in alcohol and ether, and 
slightly volatile with water-vapour. 

Another “substitute” for musk has been patented in England by 
Emil Schnaufer and Heinrich Hupfeld of Frankfort (No. 18521, 
18 Dec. 1888), according to the specification of which “ three 
parts of metaxylol, two parts of isobutyl alcohol, and nine 
parts of chloride of zinc are heated in a digestor to from 220° to 
240° until the pressure, which at the commencement is from 25 
to 29 atmospheres, sinks to below 6 atmospheres. The resulting 
hydrocarbon, corresponding to the formula C,,Hjg, is collected, and 
the fraction which distils over at from 190° to 230° is nitrated with 
HNO; or with HNO, and H,SO,, whilst being cooled. The pro- 
duct of the reaction is poured into water, whereupon a reddish- 
brown oil separates which is washed several times with alkaline 
water. The formula of this oil is C;},H,;NOg,, and in a concentrated 
condition it possesses a sweet smell, whilst in a dilute solution it 
gives off a penetrating and enduring musk-like odour.” 

The Complete Specification states that “ aromatic hydrocarbons 
containing the iso-propyl, iso-butyl, or iso-amyl group, on treat- 
ment with fuming nitric acid or a mixture of strong nitric acid 
(40° to 44° B.) and sulphuric acid (66° B.), produce derivatives 
which, in very dilute alcoholic solution, furnish a liquid possessing 
an odour resembling tincture of musk in the highest degree.” In 
the Provisional Specification only one example of the process is 
given by way of illustration, but of course the process may be 
carried out with the other well-known homologues. ‘‘ The hydro- 


8 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


carbons may be produced in the ordinary way, but we produce 
them by the following operation :—Toluene or xylol is heated in a 
digestor with iso-propyl, or iso-butyl, or iso-amyl alcohol in mo- 
lecular quantities with the addition of from four to five times the 
quantity of chloride of zinc to the boiling-point of the hydrocarbon, 
or to about 40° or 50° above the boiling-point of alcohol, until the 
pressure, which at the commencement was equal to about 26 atmo- 
spheres, sinks to a little above 2 or 3 atmospheres. The product 
of the reaction is subjected to fractional distillation. 

“ By theabove process the following hydrocarbonsare obtained :— 

1. From Toluene—Methylisopropyl-benzene. 
Methylisobutyl- __,, 
Methylisoamyl- __,, 

2. From Xylol — Dimethylisopropyl-benzene. 
Dimethylisobutyl- 
Dimethylisoamyl- __,, 

“To produce the ‘ Musk-substitute ’ we add to the above-men- 
tioned hydrocarbons, which during the operation should be kept 
thoroughly cool, a little more than the molecular quantity of fuming 
nitric acid or nitro-sulphuric acid. The acid should be gradually 
run in and the whole then allowed to stand undisturbed for from 
one to two hours, the resulting mass being then poured into water 
in order to get rid of the excess of acid. The well-washed sub- 
stances thus obtained are then subjected to distillation by means of 
steam, whereupon simultaneously-formed bodies which smell like 
nitro-benzol and overpower the musk-odour readily distil over, 
whilst the pure substances remain behind.” 

The musk-substitute obtamed by Baur’s process (the trinitro 
derivative of isobutyl-toluene above-mentioned) is insoluble in 
water. A process has been devised by Valentiner for obtaining a 
product which he thinks may be more useful in perfumery inas- 
much as it is soluble in water. This is effected by nitrating a 
sulpho-acid of butyl-xylene. A mixture of isobutyl alcohol and 
aceto-xylene in equivalent proportions is gradually mixed with five 
parts concentrated sulphuric acid without being allowed to become 
hot. After some time the mixture is diluted with a four-fold 
quantity of water, and the oily layer of unaltered material thus 
separated is removed. The clear, rose-coloured, watery solution 
is mixed with saturated sodium-chloride solution until the para- 
isobutyl-xylene-sulphonic acid is deposited in white crystals, which 


2 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 9 


are collected by filtration, recrystallized, and dried*. It is 
commercially known as “Tonquinol.” Valentiner’s English 
Patent is dated 3rd October, 1890 (No. 15687), and is abstracted 
in the ‘ Official Journal of Patents’ as follows :—The formation 
of “artificial Musk consists in condensing molecular proportions 
’ of iso-butyl alcohol and xylene by means of sulphuric acid at a 
temperature not exceeding 45° C., and introducing the mixture 
into fuming nitric acid, whereby a dinitro derivative of the con- 
densation products is produced. ‘This is separated by addition of 
water and purified by crystallization from alcohol. Instead of 
xylene, oil of turpentine or cymene may be employed, and iso- 
propyl or iso-amyl alcohol instead of iso-butyl alcohol. The 
product of condensation consists of a new hydrocarbon and a 
sulphonic acid. The separation and nitration of the latter is also 
described. In order to prepare a soluble artificial Musk for 
perfuming soaps, the product of condensation is sulphonized with 
fuming sulphuric acid before nitration.” This Patent has been 
opposed. The German Patent gave rise to-.a law-suit on the 
ground that it is an infringement of Baur’s Patent, and the case 
is not yet decided. Baur’s second English Patent is dated 
11th August, 1891 (No. 13613). 

Two Patents have been taken out in London by Link and 
Avenarius jointly, for the manufacture of products of a very 
similar nature, and both these Patents are “opposed.” The first 
one, dated Ist January, 1891 (No. 48), consists in first producing 
tertiary amyl-toluene or its homologues by boiling tertiary amyl 
chloride with toluene or xylene in presence of ferric chloride. 
The hydrocarbon produced is converted into its tri-nitro derivative 
by heating it on a water-bath with a mixture of nitric acid sp. gr. 
1-5 and fuming sulphuric acid. After separating excess of acid 
and purifying by re-crystallization from alcohol, light yellow 
crystals of musk-like odour are obtained. The second Patent, 
dated 3rd January, 1891 (No. 115), consists in first heating 
combinations of isodibutylene and halogen acids together with 
toluene or metaxylene or ethyl-benzene in the presence of ferric 
chloride, whereby tertiary butyl-methane, polymeric propylenes, 
and iso-propyl toluene and homologues of these bodies are pro- 
duced. The hydrocarbons are distilled off with steam, dried, and 
fractionally distilled to separate the tertiary butyl-propyl-methane 


* Pharm. Centr. xxxill. p. 80. 


10 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


and the hydrocarbons of the composition C,;H., or their homo- 
logues. These products are next converted into their tri-nitro 
derivatives and purified as specified in the first Patent. 

At the Meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry held on the 
4th April, 1892, a paper was read entitled “ Studies on Musk 
Baur ” by Dr. Baur, the inventor of that product. A study of the 
cresols in their relation to butyl enabled the author to find that a 
body with an intense musk-like odour is obtained by boiling pure 
meta-cresol ether with iso-butyl bromide and aluminium chloride, 
subsequently nitrating the product. If meta-cresol be treated 
with butyl alcohol, then with zinc chloride, and the mixture 
boiled in contact, with a reflux condenser attached, an unsymme- 
trical butyl-cresol is obtained which, when etherified and nitrated, 
yields a substance with an odour very lke civet. 

It does not appear that artificial musk blends well or “ fixes” 
perfumes well, as does the natural article. It is not stable, and 
under certain conditions its odour is destroyed. Also, it is but 
little understood, and there exists an idea that such nitrated com- 
pounds are explosive. 


CIVET, 


Next in importance as an example of the musk type is Civet. 
This is secreted by the Viverra Civetta and the Viverra Zibethain 
a pouch divided into two bags and situated beneath the tail. It 
is so powerful that it infects every part of the creature. This 
secretion is increased when the animal is irritated, a fact which is 
sometimes cruelly taken advantage of by enclosing the animal in a 
cage in which it cannot turn round, and then tormenting it. The 
cage being opened by a door from behind, a spoon is introduced 
through the orifice of the pouch and the contents carefully scraped 
out; the operation being repeated two or three times a week. The 
yield is said to be increased by feeding up the animal on foods 
which it is fond of. The secretion is a thick, unctuous, pale 
yellow matter about the consistence of honey, repulsive both 
in appearance and odour; the object of its formation is not 
obvious: it may be intended for purposes of defence, as is the 
case with the skunk and the polecat, The secretions are in re- 
lation to the habits of life and conditions of existence of various 
creatures, such as the poison of the viper for attack, and the fetid 
exhalations of some insects for defence. A poison-bag would be 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. dal 


useless to the serpent if it fed on vegetables. There is a little 
insect termed the “ Bombardier” (Carabus crepitans) which, when 
pursued, emits with an explosive noise a bluish, acrid vapour, very 
highly irritating to the senses of its enemy, which is an insect of 
the same tribe but of three or four times its size and strength. 
The inky secretion of the cuttle-fish, which that animal employs 
as a means of bafflimg its enemies and escaping pursuit, derives 
its utility from the circumstance of its being diffusible through 
water. 

The odour of civet is much more powerful than musk, although 
its diffusiveness is not so great. On being much diluted its odour 
becomes bearable and even fragrant. Jt is very useful to assist 
other perfumes in the same way as musk. The first of the above- 
mentioned Civettz is a native of the hottest countries in Africa; 
the second is an inhabitant of India, the Moluccas, and Philippine 
Islands. A third species is found in Java, called the Viverra 
rasse. 

The Viverra Zibetha is sometimes entrapped with the fruit of 
the Durio Zibethinus tree, a delicacy which the animal is extremely 
fond of, so much so that the tree is specifically named after it. 
The fetid odour of this fruit is already mentioned. 

The Canadian Musk Rat, Ondrata Zibethica *, is an amphibious 
animal related to the beaver. It abounds on the margins of 
rivers and lakes of the United States and Canada, inhabiting mud 
huts, which it constructs. It lives on aquatic plants, principally 
the roots of the Nymphea and the Acorus, which last, as a food, 
may have some influence on the production of the characteristic per- 
fume of this animal; but its voracity is such that when unable to 
find vegetable food it will eat flesh, and, failing that, these animals 
will even eat one another tf. This Musk Rat is frequently men- 
tioned by early writers on America, on account of its odour, which 
is due to a whitish fluid deposited in certain glands near the base 
of the tail. Itis particularly strong in spring. The skins and 
tails, which long retain their odour, are used in Russia to preserve 
clothes from moth. Being cut up and macerated with spirit, a 
very powerful tincture is obtained: to one pint of spirit two 
drachms of slaked lime are generally added, the idea being that 
calcium hydrate or potassium hydrate softens the perfume and 


* Buffon, Hist. Nat. x. t. 1. t Guibourt, Hist. Nat. iv. p. 37. 


12 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


helps the solvent powers of the menstruum*. The bags are only 
properly developed in the male animal. The evident purpose 
of the odour is, so far as the animal is concerned, that of attracting 
the opposite sex. 

There. are other small animals going by the name of “ Musk 
Rat,” having the upper lip elongated into a snout or short pro- 
boscis, such as the Russian Musk Rat or “ Desman” (Mygale 
moscovita), figured in Button’s Nat. Hist. tab. x. This is common 
on the borders of rivers and lakes in the South of Russia ; it 
feeds on worms, larve, and leeches, which it extracts from the 
mud with its flexible proboscis ; its odorous principle is secreted in 
small follicles beneath the tail. Its odour is so powerful as to be 
communicated to the pike which feed on it. The Musk Rat of the 
Antilles (Mus pilorides) is a true rat, and a very voracious and 
noxious little animal. 

There is another Musk Rat, native of India, called the “ Sondeli,” 
which often utterly spoils provisions by the persistency and 
strength of its odour. It is called the “ Ondrata” by Rimmel, 
but it may be the Sorex Indicus. It is common in the lower and 
central regions of Nepal, also in Spam. In some parts of Ceylon 
this rat is a great pest. It is asserted that wine-merchants have 
to carefully seal with wax every bottle of wine in a cellar, to 
prevent the powerful secretion of these rats from penetrating the 
corks, and so spoiling the wine. 

The “ Musk Ox” (Bos moschatus), found in the coldest parts of 
North America, has many striking peculiarities which appear to 
give it an alliance to the goat, rather than to the ox, yet the 
general figure and size will warrant the naturalist in placing it in 
the bovine tribe. A singular secretion of musk strongly pervades 
and taints its flesh, particularly the heart and kidneys ; this is said 
to be much more manifest in the lean than in the fat kine. 

The natives living in the vicinity of the Sahara Desert collect 
the droppings of a small Antelope (Antelope Dorcas), which, when 
dried, is quite as fragrant as musk. Analysis proves this product 
to contain 63 per cent. of undigested vegetable matter, 26 per cent. 
of insoluble mineral matter, and only 10 per cent. of matter 
soluble in water and spirit; this consists of a musk-like resin, 
benzoic acid, biliary acid, and biliary colouring-matters. This 
antelope is very common in the Desert, and is called by the Arabs 


* Ph. J. [3] xv. p. 87. 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. es 


the “ Retsal.”” The aroma is said to be due to the product of the 
secretion of some sebacic glands situated in the inguinal region of 
the animal. 

The Florida Alligator has four glands which secrete a whitish- 
yellow fluid possessing the exact odour of ordinary musk. ‘Two of 
these glands are situate on the lower part of the head immediately 
under the throat, and one on each side of the vent. A similar 
alligator is found in British Honduras. ‘There are two marine 
Turtle which have a strong smell of musk: the Chelonia caouana 
and Chelonia caretta. 

The Cerambyx moschata, a coleopterous insect, owes its specific 
name to the same cause. 


AMBERGRIS. 


It has been already remarked that some perfumes seem to be a 
result of decay or disease ; as an instance of this amongst fishes 
may be cited Ambergris, which is a biliary concretion of the 
Spermaceti Whale (Physeter macrocephalus), and is, according 
to several authorities, an undoubted product of disease ; its odour 
recalls that of musk, but is much more delicate; it gives a per- 
manency to floral odours which are in themselves evanescent. 
For fixity and permanence the animal odours are unrivalled, and 
with careful blending in bouquet perfumes their identity is not 
predominant. A handkerchief scented with ambergris will retain 
the odour even after being washed. 

It has been repeatedly asserted that the odour of ambergris can 
be evolved from cow-dung by careful distillation of that unsavoury 
material, taken fresh, in the months of May and June. This 
assertion, originally made by an ancient writer on Chemistry (and 
Alchemy), does not appear to have been contradicted by modern 
scientists, and although rather a dirty experiment, it is worth 
testing—especially as the material is so easily obtainable, and 
competition has reduced the price of soap. Experiments made 
with the urine of the horse led to satisfactory results as regards 
the production of hippuric acid and its convertibility into benzoic 
acid *, 

Some early writers even go so far as to say that night-soil, 


* Pogg. Ann. xvil. p. 339; Ann. Chem. Pharm. xxvi. p. 60, xxviii. p. 40; 
Journ. Prakt. Chem. xxxvii. p. 244. 


14 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


under certain treatment, evolves an odour of ambergris. The 
early writers were evidently daring experimenters, and had 
stronger stomachs than modern manufacturing perfumers. 

Ambergris is found floating on the sea near the coasts of, and 
thrown up on the shores of, various tropical countries. As it has 
not been found in any whales but such as were dead or sick, its 
production is generally supposed to be owing to disease. Most 
specimens of ambergris, especially the large ones, are found to 
contain embedded in them the beak-like nasal bones of a species 
of sepia, Sepia octopodia or Sepia moschata, which is the common 
food of this whale, and to which food some observers attribute 
the odour of ambergris. 

Ambergris is found in pieces of various size, generally in small 
fragments, but sometimes in pieces so large as to weigh nearly 
200 lbs. The very high price which fine ambergris has lately 
realized on the London market is the best proof of the indis- 
pensability of the drug in the preparation of high-class per- 
fumes. During the past year the price of the best ambergris has 
risen from 180s. to 215s. per oz., at which price it is now 
quoted by wholesale London houses (23 April, 1892). 

The small compass within which a very valuable quantity of the 
drug may be imported without attracting attention, and the ease 
with which the requirements of the Customs regulations, that all 
goods shall be entered under their proper name and at their full 
value, may be circumvented, render it exceedingly difficult to 
follow closely the imports of the drug, where it is advisable to 
keep secret any important consignment of ambergris. It is stated, 
for instance, that although for many months fine ambergris has 
been thought to be exceedingly scarce in our market (and the 
visible supply has in reality been so), there has been a far greater 
supply available than has appeared on the surface, in fact, that a 
piece weighing 136 lbs. has been recently imported from Mel- 
bourne, and that the consignees have, as far as possible, kept the 
matter secret*. The greater part of the ambergris sold in London 
during the last few years has been obtained by the New Zealand 
and Tasmanian whalers, who ply their trade in the Antarctic 
Ocean. Whale-fishing was once an important industry in Tas- 
mania. Now, the Tasmanian industry has practically ceased to 


* Chemist & Druggist, 17 Oct. 1891. 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 15 


exist, and there is no hope of its revival. New Zealand still 
possesses fisheries of some importance, and will probably continue 
to supply our market with much of its ambergris for many years 
to come. Meanwhile, spermaceti whales are getting scarcer year 
by year, and the time may come when the scarcity of ambergris 
will be chronic instead of spasmodic. It is to be hoped that before 
that date science will have taught us how to supplant nature in 
the production of ambergris ; but at present there are no indica- 
tions whatever of an efficient synthetic substitute ” *, 

When taken from the whale it is not so hard as it afterwards 
becomes on exposure to the air. Its sp. gr. ranges from 0°780 to 
0:926. If good, it adheres like wax to the edge of a knife with 
which it is scraped, retains the impression of the teeth or nails, 
and emits a fat odoriferous liquid on being penetrated with a hot 
needle. On rubbing it with the nail it becomes smooth like soap, 
but is not so tenacious, and more easily broken than soap. Its 
colour varies, being white, ash-coloured, yellow, brownish black, 
or the colour of ochre. It is sometimes variegated or mottled, 
grey with black or with yellow spots or streaks. It is inflammable. 
Its smell is peculiar, and not easily to be counterfeited. At 
62°-2 C. it melts, and at 100° C. it is volatilized in the form of a 
white vapour ; on a red-hot coal it burns, and is entirely dissipated. 
Water has no action on it; acids, except nitric acid, act feebly on 
it; alkalies combine with it and form soap; ether and the volatile 
oils dissolve it, also ammonia when assisted by heat; alcohol 
dissolves a portion of it. The principal constituent of ambergris is 
ambrein. Succinic and benzoic acids are said to be sometimes 
found among the products of its destructive distillation. Its 
inorganic constituents are carbonate and phosphate of calcium, 
with traces of ferric oxide and alkaline chlorides. The principal 
market for ambergris is London, and its high price leads to many 
adulterations ; these consist of various mixtures of benzoin, lab- 
danum, meal, etc., scented with musk. The greasy appearance 
and smell which heated ambergris exhibits afford good criteria, 
joined to its solubility in hot ether and alcohol. 

By digesting ambergris in hot alcohol, sp. gr. 0°827, the peculiar 
substance called ambrein is obtained. ‘The alcohol on cooling 
deposits the ambrein in very bulky and irregular white crystals, 


* Chemist & Druggist, 17 Oct. 1891. 


16 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


which still retain a very considerable portion of alcohol. Ambrein 
thus obtained possesses an agreeable odour, but by repeated solution 
and crystallization it loses this. It is destitute of taste, and does 
not act on vegetable blues. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves 
readily in alcohol and ether, and in much greater quantity in those 
liquids when hot than when cold. It melts at 30° C., softening 
at 25° C. When heated above 100° C., it is partly volatilized and 
decomposed, giving off a white smoke. It does not seem capable 
of combining with an alkali or being saponified. When heated 
with nitric acid it becomes green and then yellow, eliminates 
nitrous gas, and is coverted into an acid which has been called 
ambreic acid. Ambrein is perhaps impure cholesterin, which sub- 
stance it greatly resembles in its properties. Pelletier * found it 
to contain very nearly the same proportion of elements in com- 
bination. 


Whilst on the subject of fishes and insects, it may be opportune 
to remark that the odour emitted by the flesh of the Grayling has 
been likened to that of thyme; this is attributed to a habit of 
this fish of feeding on the Gyrinus natator, an insect of so strong 
an odour that when several of them are collected together they 
may be scented at a distance of 500 paces. Many insects are 
aromatic; there are ants in Bahia which, when squeezed, give off 
a strong smell of lemons. 

The food of animals undoubtedly affects the odour of their 
secretions and excretions. It has been remarked that the Musk 
Deer only frequents districts in which the birch-tree is found ; 
the reason of this is not apparent, but the animal certainly fre- 
quents localities where certain plants of the larkspur species 
thrive, species which possess such a strong odour of musk that 
the peasants of the locality believe the odour of this animal to be 
due to feeding on this plant; a belief which may be wrongly 
conceived, because the Musk Deer is found in other localities 
where the plant does not exist. Still, it is a curious coincidence. 

To quote from the ‘ Flora Indica’ of Hooker and Thomson : 
writing on the botany of the Himalayas :— 

“Owing to the great power of the sun there is scarcely any 
vegetation even at 15000 feet; above that, though plants may be 


* Ann. Ch. Pharm. vi. p. 24. 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. a 


gathered up to 19,000 feet, the vegetation is excessively scanty and 
only found on the margins of rills by the melting snow. The 
flora of these arid regions includes some plants of great interest... . 
amongst others the Delphinium Brunonianum.” The species of 
this genus generally smell of musk, but the authors discredit the 
fact of the plant furnishing food to the Musk Deer, which is quite 
believed by the mountaineers. The Delphinium moschatum grows 
at an elevation of 14,000 feet; its flowers are pale blue. OD. 
glaciale is found at an altitude of 18,000 feet; its flowers, which 
are pale blue, appear in August and September. D. Brunonianum 
is found on the mountains of Eastern Thibet at an altitude of 
18,000 feet ; its flowers are also pale blue and appear in August 
and September. 

Delphinium Brunonianum is apparently abundant, as the juice 
of the plant is used in Afghanistan to destroy ticks in animals, 
especially in sheep. 

Hooker’s ‘ Flora of British India’ says :—‘‘ D. glaciale grows 
on the Eastern Himalaya at an elevation of 16,000 to 18,000 feet, 
the whole plant has a rare musky odour, and D. Brunonianum in 
Western Thibet at 14,000 feet ; it is synonymous with D. moschatum 
of Munro”’*. 

If these plants were more accessible they could doubtless 
be turned to some commercial practical use, especially as some 
plants which have appeared even more difficult to obtain are now 
successfully grown. As an instance of this may be mentioned 
the “Sumbul” root, EHuryangium Sumbul, a plant which was 
jealously guarded, and only obtained after a reward had been 
offered for a root by the Russian Government. It was discovered 
in 1869 by a Russian traveller in the Maghian mountains near 
Pianjkent, a small village eastward of Samarkand, whence a 
living plant was forwarded to the Botanic Garden, Moscow, and 
it flowered there in 1871. It is a perennial umbellifer, growing to 
the height of 9 or 10 feet, and has a branched fleshy root about 
11 inches in circumference at the base, with numerous rootlets. In 
1876 it was reported by Wittmann that the plant was found in 
large quantities in the extreme Kastern regions of Siberia which 
border on the Amoor river+. ‘The word ‘‘ Sumbul ” seems to be 
employed in Arabic to designate various substances, especially the 


* Jacq. Voy. Bot. viii. t. 7, and Bot. Mag. t. 5461. 
t+ Pharm. Journ. 1876, p. 329. 


18 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Indian “Nard” or root of Nardostachys Jatamansi (the true 
“ Spikenard’’) ; but when or why it was first applied to this root 
remains an unsolved problem (the word ‘‘ Sumbul ” appears to be 
an incomplete name, or rather an abbreviated name). It is known, 
however, that the Sumbul was first introduced (imported as a 
drug) into Russia about the year 1835, as a substitute for musk 
(which was at that time recommended as a remedy for cholera); 
it began to be known in Germany about 1840, and in England ten 
years later. It was admitted into the English pharmacopeeia in 
1867. The root, as we know it in commerce, is usually cut 
transversely into slices of from 3 to 5 centimetres, and sometimes 
12 centimetres, in length, by about 3 or more centimetres in 
thickness, sometimes mixed with small inferior shoots not thicker 
than a goose-quill. It is covered with a dark papyraceous bark. 
The internal surface of the slices is pale brown, marbled with white 
streaks ; examined with a glass, an exudation of a large number of 
resinous drops is noticeable, especially near the circumference. 
The internal structure has a spongy, fibrous, farinaceous aspect. 
It exhales an agreeable odour of musk, and possesses an aromatic, 
bitter taste. Prof. Fliickiger remarks that the Indian Sumbul 
root mentioned by Pereira is unknown to him, and that the root 
imported from China mentioned in Pereira’s ‘ Materia Medica’ 
appears to be quite a different root to Sumbul; a fact confirmed 
by Dr. Dymock of Bombay, who states that in China the root of 
Dorema Ammoniacum is perfumed with musk and sent to Europe as 
Sumbul. Microscopically examined, the internal structure of 
Sumbul root is very irregularly formed of wood and medullary rays, 
and the bark consists of a soft spongy parenchyma. The ana- 
tomical structure of the root becomes very apparent when a thin 
slice is moistened with a solution of iodine, the medullary rays 
acquiring an intense blue colour by reason of the starch contained 
in them. The irregularity of the structure resembles that of 
rhubarb root, but this last has not the large resinous cavities 
observable in Sumbul root and in many other umbelliferous 
plants. Sumbul root contains about 9 per cent. of soft balsamic 
resin, soluble in ether, and a small proportion of volatile oil (about 
03 per cent.). When the resin is brought into contact with 
water it develops a musky odour. A solution of potash is said to 
convert this resin into a salt of potassium and sumbulamic acid, 
smelling very strongly of musk. 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 19 


Continuing the list of musk odours in the vegetable kingdom, 
may be cited “ Mal-oil” or oil of apples. This is produced by 
cellulostasis, a disease of the apple which imparts a musky odour 
to this fruit. It is obtained from the diseased apples by distilla- 
tion with water. It is a yellowish-grey oil, lighter than water ; it 
boils at 109°C. It smells strongly of musk and hasa rough sharp 
taste. It volatilizes completely when heated. It dissolves readily 
in alcohol and ether, and imparts a musk-like odour to water *. 

The “‘ white Musk Mallow” (Malva moschata alba), a British 
hardy perennial, is found growing abundantly in some localities by 
the roadsides in dry gravelly soil. This white variety is an attrac- 
tive plant, and forms a branching pyramidal bush about 2 feet 
high, clothed with dark green, deeply-divided foliage. The flowers 
are pure white, from 1 to 14 inches in diameter; the whole plant 
is slightly musk-scented. 

The Mimulus moschatus, also called Erodium moschatum, a native 
of North America, usually known in England as the “ Musk 
plant,” and cultivated in pots for window decoration, is too well 
known to require description. The old-fashioned variety is more 
strongly scented than the large-flowered sort. 

The Hibiscus Abelmoschus, an herbaceous plant attaining about 
3 feet in height, a native of the hottest parts of India, of which 
two varieties are cultivated in tropical countries, is a somewhat 
important plant commercially. Its large yellow flowers are 
succeeded by greyish-coloured seeds which possess a very pro- 
nounced odour of musk; these seeds, known as ‘ Ambrette ” 
seeds, are distilled for their fragrant oil, the yield of which is 
estimated at 0°2 per cent. 

The Eurybia argophylla or Guarea Swartzei, the “ Silver-leaved 
Musk-tree” of Jamaica, New South Wales, and Tasmania, is a 
meliaceous tree attaining a height of 25 feet. In Jamaica it is 
called the ‘‘ Musk-wood.” It is often cultivated in greenhouses 
as a shrub, and valued for the musky odour of itsleaves. A sample 
of “ Musk-wood ” was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition, 1878, 
from Queensland, said to be derived from Marlea Vitiensis, 
Benth. 

The Carduus nutans (Musk Thistle) is not uncommon on waste 
land, fallow fields, and barren pastures where the soil is gravelly, 


* Pharm. Journ, [8] xxvii. p. 158. 


c2 


20 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


or more especially calcareous. It is an annual plant, flowering (in 
England) in July and August. The flowers are not ornamental, 
but smell strongly of musk in warm weather. Their drooping 
posture distinguishes them at sight from our other thistles. The 
stem rises from a spindle-shaped root to the height of 2 or 3 feet, 
and is striated, slightly invested with cottony down ; its flowers are 
drooping. 

The Adoxa moschatellina, a small tuberous plant, 4 to 6 inches 
high, may be found in flower in April (if the weather be genial), 
in woods or on shady banks in many parts of England; its flowers 
are musk-scented. 

The Hyacinthus muscari, a bulbous plant with dull purple 
flowers having a strong musky odour. 

Gnaphalium odoratissimum is similarly scented. 

The Cyanus orientalis (major) moschatus or Amberboa moschata 
(“ Purple Sultan”) is considered by some to have a musky 
fuagrance, as its name implies, but by others the odour is more 
comparable to that of honey (it may be comparable to the “ Sweet 
Scabious ”’). 

The odour of musk has been observed in the root of the common 
Beet (Beta vulgaris). 

The musky odour noticeable in some grapes may be due to the 
presence of succinic acid. 

The Achillea moschata (Musk-scented Milfoil), a little plant 
found on the Swiss Alps at elevations of 5000 to 10,000 feet, 
yields by distillation of its flowers and leaves an essential oil of 
musk-like odour. It is used to perfume the liqueur known in 
Switzerland as “ Iva.” | 

It has been remarked that the dried flowers of the Canella alba 
( Wild Cinnamon ”’) when softened in warm water, have an odour 
nearly approaching that of musk. 

The “ Musk-Cranesbill,’ Geranium cicute folio moschatum, a 
British perennial, has a faintly agreeable odour of musk, which is 
destroyed by bruising the plant. 

The greenish-yellow flowers of the Cestrum nocturnum, a bastard 
Jasmine, native of Cuba, and there called “‘ Dama de Noche ”’ 
or Lady of the Night, give off a strong musky odour after sunset, 
but as soon as the sun rises this odour is replaced by one of a very 
nauseous kind. 

The term “ Noctu-olens” or night-smelling has been applied to 


THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 21 


many flowers which are scentless by day and smell powerfully at 
night. Linnzeus calls them “ Flores tristes,’ melancholy tlowers, 
belonging to various tribes as discordant as possible ; the colour of 
such flowers is generally white, pale yellow, greenish yellow, dull 
brown, or faded blue-tint. Amongst them may be noticed :— 
Hesperis tristis, the double-flowered night-scented Rocket. 
Cheiranthus tristis, the night-flowering Stock. 
Daphne pontica. 
Crassula odoratissima. 
Mirabilis jalapa. 
3 dichotoma, 
Y: longiflora. 
Datura ceratocaula. 
Cereus nicticalus. 
»  serpentinus. 
» grandiflora, which puts forth a bloom as large as a 
caulitlower, smelling powerfully of vanilla. 
Rivea Bona-nox (Lettsomia Bona-nox). 
Ipomea grandiflora. 
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. 
Geranium triste. 
Sanseviera Pumila, 


22 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


CHAPTER II. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 


Tue organs of the sense of smell can be trained to the appreciation of 
perfumes, especially by young persons, as easily as the palate can 
be trained for business purposes to the tasting of the flavours of 
wines, tea, or coffee. Of course a taster, sampler, or evaluer of 
such beverages must naturally be possessed of a finely developed 
nervous susceptibility to the shght variations occurring in every 
sample which comes under his notice. Such natural perfection 
of susceptibility is not common, although many possess the gift 
without being quite aware of it: they may not be in the tea-trade 
or the wine-trade, or in any trade at all; and so the gift is not 
trained, or even appreciated. To those who are not constantly 
occupied in the culture of the rose, it may seem that one rose is 
very much the same as another, and excepting a few variations in 
colour and habit of growth there is very little difference distin- 
guishable. Probably many persons would never believe that there 
are not only roses perfectly devoid of odour, but there are some 
which stink. There are experienced gardeners who can name 
many varieties of rose in the dark: this means that the perfume 
of roses is very varied, and that no two varieties possess the same 
odour. What is called the pure odour of rose is unique, undefin- 
able, incomparable. It is in fact a type, and no imitation can 
approach it. It may be best represented by the Rosa centifola 
cultivated in Provence, or by the R. Damascena cultivated in 
Bulgaria. The odour of tea is not perceptible in the so-called 
**'Tea-roses,” indeed many “ Tea-roses”’ are odourless, such as 
the Mélanie Souppert, Marie Guillot, Marie Caroline de Sertoux, 
Triomphe de Milan, &e. Some “ 'Tea-roses ” possess very delicate 
fruity odours, somewhat approaching that of raspberry, such as 
the Maréchal Niel and the Madame Bravy. The odours of some 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 23 


Tea-roses, such as Gloire de Dijon, are so soft and undefinable that 
any comparison is impossible. The Rosa Socrates has an odour of 
peach ; the R. Elizabeth Barbenzien and R. Souveraine an odour of 
melon; R. Jsabelle Narbonnaud and R. Banksia alba an odour of 
violets; R. Safrano an odour of pinks; R. bracteata and R. 
Macartnea an odour of apricot. 

As arule the red roses are more odoriferous than the white. 
Cut roses placed in a vase diffuse their fragrance more powerfully 
than when growing on the plant. The majority of Noisette roses 
are inodorous, but the variety known as “ Unique jaune” recalls 
the odour of hyacinth, and the “ Desprez” that of fruit. Some 
sorts of Rosa canina and R. arvensis, also R. sepium and R. alpina, 
exhale a fine odour of mignonette. The R. moschata (Miller) 
possesses a fine odour of pinks, but none whatever of musk. The 
odour of pinks is also disengaged from the oil-glands in the 
peduncles and sepals of R. Brunonii (Lindl.). In estimating the 
quality of the odour of arose, care should be taken in handling the 
stalk, the calyx, or any green part, as a very slight friction breaks 
the glands which the green parts mostly contain in quantity, and 
in which is secreted an oil or oleo-resin totally different in cha- 
racter to the oil developed in the microscopic glands of the petals. 
In the green parts of some roses the odour is sometimes rank and 
terebenaceous, as in R. pomifera, R. mollis, and R. tomentosa ; 
sometimes it is balsamic, as in R. centifolia ; sometimes fruity, as 
in R. sepium, R. micrantha, R. rubiginosa, R. graveolens, and fh. 
glutinosa, the lower part of whose leaves contains innumerable oil- 
glands, which being broken by friction exhale an agreeable odour, 
which has been very rightly compared to that of an apple called 
the “Pomme Reinnette,” or “ Pippin”; this is very distinctly 
developed in R. rubiginosa (the “ Sweetbriar”’), and to such an 
extent as to be disengaged spontaneously, especially on a warm 
day. (The composition of the body contained in these glands is 
apparently unstudied and little understood, but its nature is sug- 
gestive of valerianate of amyl*.) The leaves of R. lutea, Dalech. 


* A similar odour has been noticed in phenylnitro-ethylene chloride, which 
can be prepared by passing chlorine into a cooled solution of phenylnitro-ethylene 
in chloroform. On the evaporation of the latter it remains as a thick oil, which 
has a penetrating odour, resembling, when dilute, that of pippins. On standing 
for some time, large lustrous crystals are deposited, which are extremely soluble 
in ether and chloroform, and are again left on evaporation as an oil, which 


24. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


(R. eglanteria, L.), possess a still finer odour, recalling that of 
Jasmine. The flowers of this group (Rubiginose) are generally 
quite devoid of odour, but those of R. lutea are said to develop an 
odour resembling a mixture of bugs and coriander; the same is 
said of R. platyacantha and R. capucine, especially the variety 
bicolor (Jacq.). It has been noticed that roses flowering under 
glass give off a greater amount of perfume than those cultivated 
in the open air; the reason of this is obscure, but it is perfectly 
certain that under no conditions is the odour fully developed 
except in very hot climates, where the power of the sun affords 
the maximum benefit of light and heat. 

The flowers of Rosa gallica (which are used officinally) are but 
feebly odoriferous when freshly gathered, their perfume develops 
gradually in the process of desiccation, while that of the Damask 
rose is almost destroyed by drying. 

In Bulgaria the flowers grown for the distillation of the otto 
are gathered before they commence to open, and a little before 
sunrise. Were they gathered later in the day, when fully expanded 
by the heat, the perfume would be stronger, but not so sweet, and 
the resulting essence would be of less value. It has been noticed 
that previous to a storm, or atmospheric disturbance, the odour of 
the rose seems strangely increased ; this may be by reason of the 
oxidizing influence of the ozone in the atmosphere, or it may be 
that our perceptive faculties are sharpened at such moments. In 
further illustration of the capricious nature of this perfume, and 
the extraordinary complexity of its forms, it is stated that not only 
in the whole list of roses are there no two which develop precisely 
the same odour, but that in the same species, and even on the 
same plant, there are not found two flowers absolutely identical 
in odour,—even vet further, that it is a well known fact amongst 
rose-growers that at different times in the day an individual 
flower will emit a different perfume. 

The essential oil of rose can rarely be obtained pure. In India 
the natives seem to prefer it adulterated, especially with oil of 
santal-wood. ‘The word Afar in India is used like the word Adir 


solidifies, when placed in contact with a fragment of the original crystals, to a 
mass, which melts at 30°. This odour of pippins, akin to that of Sweetbriar, 
is noticeable in the flowers of Agrimonia eupatorium, and in all parts of the 
Agrimonia odorata, 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 25 


for many mixed perfumes ; the Adir of Bombay is compounded of 
santal, violets, orange-flower, rosewater, musk, and spikenard. 
Apart from the systematic adulteration of Otto of Rose, which 
gives us a false idea of the true perfume, the quality would 
undoubtedly be finer if the rough apparatus now used in the East 
for its extraction were replaced by modern appliances, and if 
greater care were taken in the process of the distillation. The 
quality would especially be improved by removing all the calyces, 
seed-receptacles, bits of stalk, and in fact carefully rejecting every 
green particle of the plant, as such contain, as above explained, 
oils and oleo-resins of very different and deteriorating odours. 

The rose cultivated in Bulgaria for the otto has been clearly 
identified by botanists as the R. Damascena, Miller, the Red 
Damask rose. It is a native of Syria, and is distinguished from 
the R. centifolia by the greater size of its spines, green bark, elon- 
gated fruit, and longer reflexed sepals. It forms a small branching 
shrub, reaching the height of 5 or 6 feet ; the branches are spread- 
ing and rise from the bottom of the stem; until they become old 
they are covered with brown, straight, very closely set spines, 
sometimes a centimetre in length. The leaves are about 10 to 15 
centimetres long, composed of seven folioles which are unequal, 
sessile, elliptical, non-acuminate and sharply serrate ; their upper 
surfaces are bright green and glabrous; the under surfaces are of 
a dull glaucous colour, the margins and nerves being finely pube- 
scent. The petiole is furnished with recurved spines and is 
covered with short glandulous brown hairs. 

The flowers are grouped in 2- or 3-flowered cymes. The branches 
bear on the average seven flowers, and in good years as many as 
thirteen have been counted. The peduncles are slender and about 4 
centimetres long, bristling with numerous very fine spines inter- 
mixed with glandulous hairs which render the stalk very sticky to 
the touch. (The workmen who gather the flowers find that their 
fingers become hardened so that they do not feel the pricking of 
the thorns, but they become covered with a dark resinous sub- 
stance emanating from the glands of the flower-stalks ; the odour 
of this substance is strongly terebenaceous, and at the end of the 
day is scraped off the fingers, rolled into balls, and kept for mixing 
with tobacco in cigarettes.) 

The small receptacle (seed-vessel) is almost conical and gra- 
dually diminishing in size to the stalk ; this also is full of resious 


26 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


glands. The sepals are very pointed and sometimes 3 centimetres 
in length. The margins of the two exterior sepals and the 
exterior margin of the partly exposed inner sepal of the bud are 
provided with several long thin tongue-like growths, covered with 
hispid glands on the outer surface. The two sepals and the sepal 
partly concealed in the bud are simply hairy. The internal surface 
of the five sepals is covered, towards the broad concave base, with 
a fine pale down. The petals are orbicular, pink, almost red in 
the bud, and becoming paler as the flower expands; they are thin, 
not shiny, but not velvety. The stamens are few innumber. The 
styles are free in their entire length. The exquisite odour of the 
flower is very analogous to that of the R. centifolia. The colour 
of the berry is cherry-red. 

A microscopic examination of the transverse section of a rose 
petal reveals that the otto is secreted in cells on both its surfaces, 
those of the upper epidermis being of a papillary form and those 
of the lower of an elongated cubic form. The presence of the 
oil in these cells is clearly demonstrated by moistening the section 
with a dilute aqueous solution (1 in 200) of osmium tetroxide 
(OsO,, sometimes called osmic acid); a reagent of great sensi- 
tiveness in detecting the presence of both essential and fixed oils, 
The section becomes almost instantaneously bordered by two 
bluish-black lines of cells, resulting from the reduction of the acid 
and deposition of the osmium*, The section must be then washed | 
in distilled water and mounted in glycerin. 

Information respecting the cultivation &c. of the rose in Bulgaria 
was published by D. Pappazoglou of the firm of Pappazcglou 
Brothers of Kézanlik, and issued in the form of a pamphlet at the 
Philadelphia Exhibition, where the firm exhibited specimens of 
their otto. Later information on the subject has also been pub- 
lished by Christo Christoff, also a merchant of Kézanlik, and an 
exhibitor of otto at the Paris Exhibition, 1889. These two 
pamphlets contained much useful information which is to a great 
extent embodied in the following details of the culture of the 
rose in Bulgaria :— 

The bushes are planted close together, so as to form hedges, in 
long parallel rows, with a space of about six feet between the rows. 
The bushes grow about six feet high. 

The ground selected is preferably of a sandy porous nature 

* Blondel, in Bull.de la Soc. Bot. de France, Feb. 1889. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 27 


allowing of free percolation of moisture, and sloping towards the 
south so as to be sheltered from the cold winds of winter. The 
situation should be in the vicinity of running water, which is 
necessary for the distillation. The propagation is not effected by 
cuttings or layers, but by cutting down or digging up entire 
bushes, such as appear to leave blanks in the lines of flower in the 
hedgerows by reason of the plants being worn out. These bushes 
are pulled completely up and chopped into pieces. As the branches 
spring from the bottom of the stem, the stump with as much of 
the root as possible left attached is torn up and divided with a 
spade or hatchet, and is placed with the boughs, leaves and all, in 
pieces four or five abreast horizontally in long straight trenches 
about 40 centimetres broad and the same in depth; part of the 
mould taken from the trench is then thrown lightly on, and a thin 
dressing of manure is thrown over all. If possible it is then 
watered. The planting is done in October or November; the 
young shoots make their appearance about the following April, 
being of a deep red colour until they attain the height of about 
20 centimetres. The ground is then weeded and raked with great 
care; it is again weeded at the beginning of June, andin November, 
when the rest of the mould which was not put back into the 
trench the year before is carefully heaped up to the base of the 
young shoots (which by this time are about 30 centimetres high), 
to protect them against the cold of winter. The following May 
the plants will have attained the height of about 60 centimetres, 
and produce a few flowers which will be harvested with the rest, 
and be sufficiently productive to cover the expenses incurred in 
keeping the ground clean. The next year they will be in fuil 
bearing. Its maximum production is in the fifth vear. When 
the bush has attaimed its tenth year, many cultivators prune it 
right down to the ground to strengthen it ; new branches and even 
flowers will appear the following year. The harvest commences 
about the third week in May, according to the season, and lasts 
about a month; there is sometimes another small gathering of 
flowers in November. After the harvest the ground is cleaned of 
weeds, and in October it is slightly manured, the earth being hoed 
up to the roots of the bushes to protect them in the winter. 
The pruning takes place in March, when all withered branches 
are carefully removed. In April the ground is again cleaned, and 
the mould which was heaped up at the roots of the bushes before 


28 ODOROGRAPHIA. 

the winter is removed. Watering is very rarely necessary. As 
the bushes grow older, the branches, which are more or less 
spreading and spring from the bottom of the stem, interlace and 
form a very close thicket. The life of the bush exceeds twenty 
years. 

The rose-tree requires unceasing care; the ground must be 
hced at least four times during the year, and kept scrupulously 
clean of weeds. Pappazoglou states that the plant must be 
manured every other year, but admits that ‘‘such benefits the 
quantity but harms the quality.” The rose is very susceptible to 
climatic changes. In very cold winters the branches die. Frost 
and fog are very dangerous to the tree, especially if occurring 
when the sap is rising. The quality of the crop depends greatly 
on the temperature during the harvest; if during that time the 
weather be cold and wet, the flowers will develop very slowly, and 
a very great heat expands them too quickly. 

The borders of the Bulgarian plantations are defined by hedges 
of a white rose, the Rosa alba, L. It is a bush of more vigorous 
growth than the R. Damascena, and flowers about a fortnight 
later. Its odour is agreeable, but much inferior to that of the 
red rose. The oil derived from it is of very poor quality, but it is 
rich in stereoptene, and unscrupulous manufacturers distil its 
flowers with those of the red, in order that the otto of the latter 
may bear adulteration with a larger proportion of “ geranium oil.” 

The annexed sketch of the apparatus used in the manufacture 
of Bulgarian otto of rose is copied from one drawn by a Turkish 
engineer, and published in a Consular Report in 1872. It is very 
primitive in construction and capable of great improvement, but 
it appears to agree in every particular with a sketch recently 
published by Christo Christoff of Kézanlik of the apparatus in use 
at the present day in Bulgaria. The still is of copper, about five 
feet high, resting on a furnace built of bricks or stones. The con- 
denser is simply a straight tube passing obliquely through a 
wooden vat. The fuel for heating the furnace consists of long 
pieces of wood or poles, which are lit at one end, and pushed into 
the furnace as fast as the end is consumed, and of course to lower 
the fire, or put it out altogether, it is only necessary to pull out 
the wood by the unburnt end. There is no door to the furnace, 
and the smoke escapes by a short piece of pipe stuck in the brick- 
work. The cold water for condensation is supplied by a wooden 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 29 


gutter suspended over the condenser. There is a hole at the hot- 
tom of the condensing tub, into which an upright pipe is fixed ; 
the other end of the pipe reaches nearly to the top of the tub. 
This allows for the overflow of the hot water, which runs away in 
a trench in the floor of the building. 10 kilogrammes of flowers, 
just as they are gathered, including their green parts, are put into 
the body of the still, with 75 litres of water. The separate parts 
of the still are then adjusted together, and the joints luted with 
strips of cotton rags moistened with wet clay. A brisk fire is first 
made up and then allowed gradually to moderate. The operation 
lasts about an hour anda half, and the fire is drawn when 10 litres 
of liquid have distilled over. This has been received in two flasks 
of 5 litres each, and placed on a shelf to cool. The parts of the 
still are then disconnected; the spent petals are separated on an 
osier sieve, and the dirty hot water is put back in the still to do 
duty for a fresh charge of flower, so economising fuel. The oper- 
ation is repeated all day and sometimes all night, as long as there 
are flowers to be distilled. Petals kept twenty-four hours from the 
time of gathering lose much of their fragrance and afford an unsatis- 
factory yield, but yet they are sometimes allowed to accumulate in 
large quantities, and while waiting for the still to be vacant to 
receive them are spread out on the ground in cool shady places, 
or in low-built sheds constructed for the purpose. 

The two flasks of rose-water above-mentioned contain all the 
otto obtainable from the 10 kilos of flowers, yet some distillers 
continue the operation until they have obtained three flasks of 
distillate, making 15 litres in all. The result is not improved in 
quality, but it contains more stereoptene, and so, by reason of its 
higher congealing-point, permits of the otto bemg adulterated with 
a larger quantity of “geranium oil”? (Andropogon Schenanthus, L.) 
without the fraud being detected. When 40 litres, or 8 flasks, 
of rose-water have been collected they are redistilled together. 
The distillation is conducted as before, but only 5 litres of distillate 
are collected ; the water remaining in the still being reserved for 
fresh flowers. The flasks which receive the first distiliate are 
bell-shaped, with short necks, A, fig. 1. The flask which receives 
the product of the second distillation is globe-shaped, with a long 
neck, like a laboratory boiling-flask, B, measuring 40 centimetres 
in height by 20 centimetres diameter, made in thin Hungarian 
glass. Its capacity is also 5 litres. The second distillate, which 


30 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


is at first white and cloudy like an emulsion, gradually clears as it 
becomes cold, and the oil rises to the surface in the narrow neck, 
forming a yellowish stratum a few millimetres in thickness. It is 
removed by a sort of funnel-shaped spoon, C, made of tin, about 
2 centimetres broad, and pierced with a minute orifice at the apex. 
This is dipped into the neck of the flask and repeatedly plunged 
below the surface of the layer of oil, the oil gradually flowing over 


Fig. 1. 


its brim and the water escaping back into the flask by the hole at 
the bottom. This is continued until all traces of oil have been 
collected. It is then quickly emptied into a collecting flask. It 
is estimated that 1 hectare of land produces 3000 kilos of flowers, 
which yield 1 kilo of oil. 

A more barbarous process of treating a flower so delicate and 
fine as the rose can scarcely be conceived. The oil so manufac- 
tured is, comparatively speaking, scorched and empyreumatic in 
odour, and is very far from conveying to the mind a true idea of 
the natural perfume; but, apart from this consideration, a recent 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 31 


Report of the English Consul at Constantinople states that the 
Otto industry of Turkey suffers from the effect of the mistrust 
naturally aroused by the admitted wholesale adulteration of the 
product with geranium oil. It is therefore highly probable that 
the efforts made to grow the rose in the north of Europe, and 
prepare the otto with the most complete technical appliances, will 
shortly succeed to a great extent in competing with the Turkish 
product, especially as the firms who are now making these efforts 
are of a standing and respectability which guarantee the purity of 
their products. Certainly, with a little more sunlight and heat, 
they would entirely supersede the Turkish manufacturers. At 
the Paris Exhibition of 1878 a sample of about 3 oz. of pure otto 
of rose was exhibited by M. Hanart of Auzin, Département du 
Nord, as being the produce of about 24 ewt. of rose-petals grown 
in the Auzin district. 

In about 1886 a rose plantation was established near Leipzig 
by Messrs. Schimmel and Co. of that city. In their Report for 
April 1891, they state that these rose-fields extend over about 180 
Prussian acres, the oil from which is introduced into commerce in 
a liquid state, 7. e. practically free from stereoptene, which has 
been mechanically extracted from it. Such oil will therefore 
remain liquid at ordinary temperatures, will readily dissolve in 
spirit, and, used in the preparation of compound bouquets, will 
not deposit stereoptene. (A very great advantage to perfumers.) 
Undoubtedly a reliable product of this sort, which must have cost 
much material sacrifice and perseverance to establish, will be duly 
appreciated and supported by the buyers, but it remains to be 
seen whether this otto will compete in fragrance with that distilled 
in the south of France, where the rose culture has attained an 
enormous development. The French oil has a greater consistence 
than the Turkish, and is more green in colour. At Grasse 8000 
to 10,000 kilos of rose-petals yield about 1 kilo of oil. It is 
collected as a by-product in the distillation of rose-water. It 
does not appear that this oil has been offered for sale “ sine 
stereoptene.” 

In contrast with the rough distillatory apparatus in use in 
Bulgaria, the annexed woodcut illustrates the more rational system 
of using steam-jacketed stills in France, and represents the actual 
view of a still-room in the factory of Messrs. Sozio and Andrioli 
at Grasse. 


32 ODOROGRAPHIA., 


INTERIOR OF STILL-ROOM AT GRASSE, 


The average production of Bulgaria since 1871 is estimated as 
follows :— 


kilogrammes, 
| he Fi LOS) SR ce oe eee ee 3000 
dei cS ae eg a 1500 
WS MOWn: ace once ox ncie 2000 to 2400 


SAA eRe ike <0 Sethe eke 2000 


[To face page 32. 


DISTRICE 


SY 


ie ae ee ee 


Av BS. 


Dis « Y))}! WI 


an i i 
DE Ns = 


ait a 
) lee mo 


DEMIRDJILERI. Soe 


TatAr-Pazarosik 


[To face page 32. 


SKETCH-MAP OF THE BULGARIAN ROSE-FARMING DISTRICT. 


WPI G Zi Eis Ot AN WIKR Mp) f yak Wy) h) ONWie 
SAC (Gris 4 Ml G ) \\i NY yy) Y] Ne 4) 
“ane be 8a c Me yD < a vo on a) ch i ae ee A 


Mayne ae ae 

: pei i Ds fh 

epee ot “BSB AKAR ae ie Pes ie MA a faa pee ie a 
| ALIN AGS rN 


Die YY 


Sa - tieye © 
INV ASL Gi RASS NeeRiningalt eens 


AY fo) Wy 
Econo OmARoB AYN? }O/, fe nat j& 
He Zana a fey oo Si n Zac 


ZINDJIRLAI o itr =! 


4 Beane 


atl hITh 


Sor 


) ‘G 
me \ 
AN A Fi WY \—sr77-F a — a ies PES 
KOROU_JMITLI ~ ROU TCH MALAB)/ ; BNC} 
i VY USS ES OMAHmoUDL ARIF We 
OKOLYACHEVO aE 2 
Ti oreent OBALDJILAR) 


OMISSILIMI 


prezovo © SADAKKL 


é 


BI HILIPPOPOL) 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. oo 


kilogrammes. 
| FY fo MMMM REE eR: Cee cu ap 1800 
1879-89). 2. eee 1800 to 2000 
AB 86 . es'xcsda2)2 2 ee 2500 
S87; . settee eee 2800 
L388. 22e.aieo ee 2600 
S89" scar ee rere 3000 
LSO0e ose Baa Go RO ee 2500 
LOOT erred tcc aaa ede 2200 


The importance of the yield from the different villages in each 
rose-growing district in Bulgaria may be estimated by the following 
approximate totals of each village in each Canton for the year 


1888, which was considered a fairly good year. 


(The figures are 


taken from the Report of Christo Christoff of Kézanlik.) 


DEPARTMENT OF STARA-ZAGORA. 


CANTON OF KEZANLIK. 


Mormouch avi aa -eeeeee e 15 
IMAIKOZSClOn etre cael elek 15 
Golémo=Sélow sant. sae oe 100 
Gormio-SarhanGaeere aes 8 
SHONGIEVOINs tar sleroAcidete morn. ae 3 
VETTING] TA 3557s oe seiateteychcpelotes fares 3 

Wipe ts. « ivi em « Siaraie aly arses 35 
SEIEHIAY ate ie oa deo ibe 2 eee ols 50 
GRSGVO.tic oe 2 2c eee das 15 
SUSUAT = eR HP SS ean 2 
WEST C ba witha cess std ea che a 60 
IROROMEAMe eiacawiat. 7. fais sie Sale vs 30 
VEREOVELES eign anes ass 15 
DLVILOLM pete awe o.oo deen 12 
Wozloadjavsc. qty ooe 506+ ewe 60 
dichanatchis@noumes acu cco: 12 
BOING + 5:55 23 Ble eve Gas owns 15 
PNG Hilelitis ss. oe cists ove eee eee 10 
HAOTOZOV OL «see 1 cee aero 15 
UEEIGEANIOVO: « «<6 c's sie e'se oteele 5 
Meralaydérl, .. 5.2 citoween als 25 
BRIGG he's cans «ne @ Se 30 
LECT ae aay Sa 40 


kilos 
1Gyo nha eeeigeinto nao nici 10 
Warne hatly 255 244s 0 aes oe nas 15 
Pa Vel er typ stiet aoe seat nurentels 18 
Banaras scycnceo ms ieretatie sin se 20 
AWA ES Fre CH OeE Caen Ure Or 6 45 
Alexandrovows coi. gate es 30 
Oftehilarign ator Sot ice ne ee 15 
MarnilGnanie es. ise see aa a otis 12 
Gabarevow scene se crate 30 
Byturenll tipeeters os chet ale echo ack epohs 8 
Mali; SArnanGats se sree a 5 
JING blo. aco ia enn oo mh not 6 
Salta COVOe nareeaicaies s:eies-s rctone 10 
SEKITELCHOVOrs os ace sea cls cleie 2 
Cheynovo.......... iatgra eae 12 
PD aASasncts: Seis el ee ele etree 8 
Rezaulik (town)... 2.3 +. ssa 30 
MICHELIN. ss, «.0..s/s/s ose 5) 
Meherranovo <n» 9 site 5 
MOUTOVO. sic.s. osc sais eee ete 15 
Gornio-Softlart! -22 sense 20 
Dolnio-oollarie. jeri 3 
Mahanli:;..!.ictahokeeatemysensvectete = 50 


34 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Canton oF Nova-ZAGORA. 


kilos. kilos 

PSRATOMAS) Metric e7e0 orn e/a 0 v's "> isl Hainkeny: -.caeecn eee eee 5 

A OTRO DULY aes OG da COMOROS 6 Dolnio-Tchanaktchi .......... 8 

CO GHZGSMIBUG cafeicie%sin'e vis » a s'est 7 Zapalnia...:cs seeps 12 

IOUN ARIE reer cairns oun 10 Nicolaewo: <evsfecravisiesieiaere sets 4 
CANTON OF STARA-ZAGORA. 

- kilos. kilos. 
Moherkovomseveccerrree te 4 Hamzalant +)... eee 6 
Oriahovitza sac. c aoe eee 10 Nova Mahalannecr serie eer 7h 
Dallbolsy wssaackeste cee 10 Kazankas .. seh speer eee: 12 
Kolonia, (daets cio o horses esis 10 Balakli. .:.yoe cetera 5 
USTCHOONE (alesse, aterove oote sacs stato ae 7 Ada-Tépé: .. . s/f strange ee 6 
Dervent......0c tas geeowae vee 10 

DEPARTMENT OF PAZARDJIK. 
CANTON OF PECHTERA. 

kilos. kilos. 
BYHEZICOVO aie e.tiedee eae hw Sle caer 60 Pechtera (town)... seer 10 
TROUZATIN Sc iorofede ie ike tie ee uctontere 10 

DEPARTMENT OF PHILIPPOPOLIS. 
CANTON oF KARLOVO. 

kilos. kilos 
Ia OL OR genet orctov neteveseonenduetacuerolae 30 Dirilh adic ee ware ieee 50 
Nit ZOVOt eo cccsis cuatro oe 30 Kusséléri, 2.) .fecaescoere eter 50 
PATA HOMO Tatviei'n atstas ote! wpeveietone hele 15 GbiW6t 12. )aepetaiet fer eee 20 
Kiarlovo (Gow). ace ssres/eh cles 0 50 Obchilant . )./c)-tartectntsanae eee 20 
SOMO War Gaels mein airalaleloleleisia'= = 25 Voniagov) stasis nssis anne 25 
PBN OW GbE BG NO CnIG OO IA Or 5 Dabini. .. dclsacortaerrciaderetelcrneets 40 
ATP ANOVON eysidievetnetaisialas > eieleiets 10 Doughandji. ges +/s serene 3 
Tatariistetewcetsheislehs clotsvens ike clk? s 4 ania eee a lenedevai eon aaee renee 5 
KaratehSvor wacrccsieicheteye eens 61 2 Mihiltzi....... 2s Galactus Se eee 20 
Avchalslanies sy eteieheretaleteeisvorsvols 5 Tehoukowunrli\ pee 20 
Karnar, os: sretetersietctooiee eee rane 15 Kourou-Himitlin a. ose eaeiters 10 
DEK . .a:0; 5 vuslorecteoneekerobene reser teks 25 Boghaz  . .s:0c.s0sscue ees 30 
IGM CHEE Bmmo LD OOOO Ob OSC 100 Dolnio-Omarobas ..... oteteVerstele 40 
IGITSSOULA) <cieceieencltedetettetmert eters 90 Gornio-Omarobasvenereerte 5 
Dlatinair: + versreveisreselolceieterertets 25 Kourtovo: jc esetiatetetererieeietet 5 
Waragerll cs sis sis Sporn ads. 20 Madjeri.... «:cinvialsheletaearievetintae 15 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 35 


CANTON OF TCHIRPAN. 


kilos. kilos. 
Gomio-WMicher......0.ceee0s 25 Mionouktebie 2 seen noice 6 = 5 
MIWA ele csalccs vee asa es 15 Nova-Mahiala 05 io sees 5.6 ois 5 
BMBAVTOBIAEN te slereis'els s vlcatele do's 6 Galt eerste is lorelatatels stoves oe 3 
WRAFOGJOVION: . 6... 6 0ieece cnet 2 Kearapicliais sanctheierecs tsa 6 3% 2 
EMILE TTB Pe ols cy aids. stasivinshaatels 40 


kilos kilos 
Hissar-Kusséléri i... cds o's 15 Woprivchtizay. 2... sess teat aot 4 
ARTIC WEL AT Beeson forciae Shere wucustats 30 Pamagurichté., 5-7... aa anstera 1 
PanILG WOT dae tae 1. ¢ Mie aici e wie 20 WOUGINA  opalarw nie sse av wate 2 
ASSIGN eteheteg at sole alo ele cha are tae 2 Daoudjioglow. s.2 cede 3 
Novo-Sélo (town)............ 20 TRS a I per ante ils slats cae ae ees 2 


kilos, kilos, 
Mira tichinilsameriene cree 25 Miekinalarty «sift. siotobe bare Bates 40 
PSA ATE tot ct pays oy2y a 0/e nye cha'a si 25 IC GLVALCHOVO \o.56 164 siaierale so n0-r2"s 25 
Rahmanliieers errs cctesvleee.cas +s 100 fu SSVI ee ee oN Ae RE 5 
NS ADEM etystersie 3; \-tetre veer o ets oF 10 SEO E id bh cM ppeveeane nth aborted tel Be 25 
Ear Aal ais ate treo «) laici e's os) ee 50 VRP HARD, sro cratetcin dare hers ea ete 10 
IBYEZOv.OUCLONGE) 5 n'a svas stein 64 5 Sebel y ta 9' 0 alla Seo eeienn 10 
pointe D fever igi Ute) iain ee iy ee Miowsloitich ala, -o\. sc: sisiere, ekeinvearts 7 
MondowkovOrseeeeeia tO @uirdyambiet 5osccoconsace- 10 
WalnmonGlinnongocécsotea0ccc 3 


Pure Turkish otto of rose is at the ordinary temperature a pale 
yellow liquid of asp. gr. of 0°87 to 0°90. <A reduction of tem- 
perature causes it to assume the appearance of a concrete mass, 
by reason of the formation of clear, brilliant, laminar (or plate- 
shaped) crystals, the proportion of which vary according to the 
geographical position of the country in which the flowers pro- 
ducing it were cultivated, the degree of temperature at the time 
the flowers were gathered, and other causes more obscure. <Ac- 
cording to Bauer it solidifies at between 11° and 16° C. In some 
experiments made by Hanbury in 1859 *, the point of solidifica- 
tion of pure Turkish otto varied between 16° and 18° C., that of 
an Indian sample was 20° C., one distilled in the south of France 
was between 21° and 23° C., one distilled in Paris was 29° C., and 
one obtained in London by distilling rose-water was between 30° 


* Pharm. Journ. [2] xviii. p. 504. 
D2 


36 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


and 32°C. These results indicate that the cold climates of the 
North are unfavourable to the production of a very odoriferous 
oil, the high points of solidification resulting from a larger pro- 
portion of stereoptene, which is an inodorous constituent of no 
value to the consumer, but valuable to the fraudulent dealer, who 
takes advantage of its high proportion, and can thereby add a 
proportionately larger quantity of geranium oil. 

Pure otto of rose is, therefore, a mixture of a liquid oxygenated 
body to which it owes its perfume and a solid hydrocarbon or 
stereoptene which is absolutely odourless. The proportion of 
each of these constituents is certainly very variable; the Turkish 
otto may contain as much as 18 per cent., in the French and the 
English as much as 35, 42, 60, and even 68 per cent. have been 
estimated. 

The fluid constituent of otto of rose, according to Markownikoft*, 
is composed of two bodies, C,)H 0 and C,)H,,0. According to 
Poleck +, only the body C,)H,s,O is present. Investigations made 
by Eckart at the Breslau University, and published in the ‘Archives 
der Pharmacie, 1891, pp. 355-389, show that both Turkish and 
German otto contain 5 per cent. of ethyl alcohol, which can be 
distilled off below 100° C., and a body which he names Rhodinol, 
C,,H,,0, constituting the remainder or bulk of the liquid portion. 
The stereoptene is separated by dissolving the otto in 75 per cent. 
aleohol at 70°-80°, and cooling to 0° C. The alcoholic solution 
is then evaporated in a vacuum to obtain the rhodinol. The 
physical constants of this body vary, according to its source, be- 
tween the following limits :—boiling-point, 216°-217° C.; refrac- 
tive index, 1°4710-1'4725 ; refraction equivalent, 48°97—49°28 ; 
dispersion, 11*1-12°5; specific rotation, —2°7 to —2°8. The vapour 
density corresponds with the molecular weight 142°43 (C,)H,,O 
=154). Rhodinol shows all the reactions of an alcohol. Oxida- 
tion with potassium bichromate and sulphuric acid converts it 
into an aldehyde, Rhodinal, believed to be an isomer of, and 
closely resembling, citral, which can be obtained from geraniol 
by similar treatment. By phosphoric anhydride rhodinal is 
transformed into dipentene, losing one molecule of water. 

Citral, Cj)H,,O, which exists to the extent of 74 per cent. in oil 


* Bericht d. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xxiii. 1890, p. 3191. 
+ Ibid. xxiii. 1890, p, 3554. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. Bh 


of lemon, has been studied by Semmler*, and is believed to be 
identical with the aldehyde obtained by the oxidation of geraniol. 

The nature of stereoptene was studied by Fluckiger + in 1869, 
and by Gladstone in 1872 f. 

Recent experiments made by Schimmel & Co., of Leipzig, showed 
that by digesting stereoptene at a temperature near to its melting- 
point, it was possible to obtain, by crystallizing, fractions of 
different melting-points, and by repeatediy putting the substance 
through these operations, two constituents were finally obtained, 
one of which melted at 41° C. and the other at 22°C. The result 
of this experiment on Turkish stereoptene was confirmed by re- 
peating it on stereoptene of known purity resulting from the dis- 
tillation of roses grown by themselves. These investigations tend 
to prove that, contrary to the views hitherto held, stereoptene is 
not a simple body, but a mixture of two or more homologous 
hydrocarbons. 

A drop of stereoptene let fall on paper is not dissipated by the 
heat of a stove, even after several days. When it is carefully 
melted at the temperature of sun-heat and then allowed to cool, it 
sets in microscopic crystals of a peculiar form, most of them being 
truncated hexagonal pyramids, which, nevertheless, do not belong 
to the rhomboidal system, as their angles are manifestly unequal ; 
many of them are curved into the form of an 8 or §. Examined 
under the microscope by polarized light, they present, by reason 
of their refractive power, a very brilliant aspect. Stereoptene is 
a very stable, unalterable body, but on boiling it for several days 
in fuming nitric acid it slowly dissolves and decomposes into 
various acids, homologues of the fatty acids, and possibly also 
fumaric acid. Amongst the former, butyric and valerianic acids 
are recognizable ; the principal product, however, is succinic acid, 
which was found in pure crystals, giving the well-known reactions. 
According to experiments of the same observers, there are many 
points of resemblance in the physical characteristics of stereoptene 
and paraffin. 

Besides the crystallizing test, which is applied to estimate the 
purity of otto of rose, it is necessary to examine the manner of 
crystallization in order to ascertain if that crystallization be caused 


* Bericht d. Deutsch. chem. Ges, xxili. p, 3556, and xxiy. p. 203 (1891). 
+ Pharm. Journ. [2] x. p. 147. t Journ. Ch. Soc. x. p. 12. 


38 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


by stereoptene or by spermaceti. The crystals should form in 
brilliant plates and in aigrettes reflecting the prismatic colours, 
in all parts of the liquid. Spermaceti is precipitated in a solid 
mass, easily recognizable, besides which its melting-point is 50° C., 
as is that of most varieties of paraffin; the microscopic crystals 
of the last, although somewhat resembling those of stereoptene, 
are easily distinguishable by careful comparative examination. 

A test for the presence of the oils of rose-geranium, palma 
rosa, etc., is described by Ganswindt *:—“ On mixing a few drops 
of pure oil of rose with an equal bulk of sulphuric acid, the rose 
odour is not changed, but oils used for adulteration change their 
odour; or 5 drops of the oil are mixed in a dry test-tube with 
20 drops of pure concentrated sulphuric acid ; when the mixture 
is cool it is agitated with 20 grams of absolute alcohol, when a 
nearly clear solution should be obtained, which, heated to boiling 
and then allowed to cool, remains clear yellowish brown. In the 
presence of the oils of rose-geranium, etc., the alcoholic mixture 
is turbid, and on standing separates a deposit without becoming 
clear.” 

The above-mentioned test has been confirmed ten years later by 
Panajotow t, who mentions that the brownish-red fluid resulting 
from the mixture of equal parts of oil of rose and concentrated 
sulphuric acid dissolves completely in 95 per cent. alcohol to an 
almost colourless solution, while the similar product resulting 
from oil of geranium is rendered turbid by the addition of alcohol, 
and a yellow, fatty, flocculent mass separates. 

O. F. Miiller has recently observed that a number of resins, 
oils, and lacs yield colour reactions with fuchsin solution de- 
colorized by sulphurous acid, the so-called “Schiff’s reagent.” 
Applying this test, Panajotow found { that if two or three drops 
of “Indian geranium oil” be shaken in the cold with 2 ¢. c. of 
the reagent, it gives at first a blue-violet, and after two hours a 
beautiful blue coloration. Under the same conditions pure otto 
of rose only gives a red coloration after twenty-four hours, and 
hence the slightest admixture of geranium oil is recognizable, 
because the bluish coloration is always formed at once. 

This test is, however, condemned by certain distillers of otto of 
rose as perfectly inefficient and useless, by reason that the reaction 


* Am. Journ. Pharm. 1881, p. 250. 
+ Berichte d. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xxiv. p. 2700. } Loe. cit. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 39 


is occasioned by the presence of an aldehyde, citral or geranium 
aldehyde, formed by oxidation of geraniol. This is coloured by 
the reagent at first blue-violet, after some time a turbid greenish- 
blue ; whilst the aqueous liquid assumes an intense blue-violet 
colour. Otto of rose (the liquid portion of it) consists, according 
to the investigations of Eckart *, principally of an alcohol, Rho- 
dinol, C,,H,,0, which is isomeric with, and nearly related to 
geraniol. Geraniol yields on oxidation Citral (geranium alde- 
hyde) according to Semmler +, whilst rhodinol yields, on similar 
treatment, an aldehyde Rhodinal, closely resembling citral, and this 
oxidation is partially effected when the otto is exposed to the air. 

On this logic, the aldehyde rhodinal producing the same colour 
reaction as the aldehyde citral, the fuchsin-sulphurous acid test 
can hardly be depended upon. 

The addition of ‘Indian geranium” oil to otto of rose was 
formerly made in Constantinople, but now the mixing takes place 
at the seat of the manufacture of the otto. It is stated that in 
many places the roses are sprinkled with it before being placed in 
the still; this probably makes a more perfect “blend.” Although 
the introduction of geranium oil into Bulgaria is now forbidden 
by the Government, it is still brought in secretly by Jews and 
Greeks. It is said that pure or “ Virgin” otto never leaves 
Kézanlik ; that is probably true, and the assertion that Turkish 
“Virgin” otto never arrives in England at all (even to the 
Turkish Ambassador) is almost certainly true. The manufac- 
turers avow it. The method in use in Bulgaria to detect the 
amount of adulteration with oil of geranium is very simple, and 
very defective ; it is called the congelation test, and is based on 
the fact that the addition of geranium oil lowers the temperature 
of congelation of the otto in proportion to the quantity added. 
A perfectly pure Bulgarian otto congeals at from 14° to 16° 
Réaumur (63° 5 to 68° Fahr.). If geranium is added to it, the 
same otto only congeals at 13° R. (61°2 Fahr.), 12° R. (59° Fahr.), 
11° R. (56°°7 Fahr.), and even lower according to the amount of 
“geranium” added. The purchaser takes a 20-gramme flask 
containing 15 grammes of the otto to be tested, and plunges this 
bottle into a basin of water, the temperature of which is regulated 


* Inaugural Dissertation, Breslau, 1891. 
+ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xxiii. p. 2965. 


40 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


by the addition of hot and cold water, and read off on a Réaumur 
thermometer. In a pure oil the congelation commences in three 
minutes, and at the end of ten minutes should be so complete 
that on turning the flask upside down the contents should not 
run out. Payment is made according to the degree marked by 
the thermometer when this congelation is arrived at; the degree 
of congelation indicating the degree of adulteration. 

Mr. Christo Christoff, of Kézanlk, states that ‘‘ formerly paraffin 
was added to the otto, in which it dissolves very well, and in spite 
of the presence of geranium the congelation takes place at 65° to 
68° F., but the crystals are opaque, of a dirty yellow, and break 
up, forming a sort of muddy substance which collects at the top 
of the flask. The simplest method of adulteration consists in 
adding to the roses to be distilled some white roses, the product 
from which, though less fragrant, is much richer in stereoptene 
than that of the red rose ; furthermore, this otto, which normally 
would congeal at 68° F., can, by geranium, be brought down to 
65° F., and remain still within the prescribed limits.” The otto of 
rose manufactured in Germany may appear finer than the Turkish 
from the fact that it is pure, distilled with greater care; doubtless 
the green parts of the flower (calyx, receptacle, and stalk) are 
separated, and a still capable of distilling the oil at reduced pressure 
is used, and many precautions taken; but to develop the true 
fragrance of the rose in perfection requires the full power of the 
sun and greater heat than the climate of Germany can ever 
furnish. No doubt localities might be found in Persia or in 
Tunis where the climate and soil are suitable to the growth of the 
rose, and with good stills and trustworthy European managers a 
pure otto could be produced at a very remunerative price, and the 
Oriental fraud and jugglery with “ geranium oil” put an end to 
—as far as the London market is concerned. Further, the stereo- 
ptene might be separated, as it is a perfectly odourless product, 
and otto so sold “ sine stereoptene” would be more difficult to 
adulterate and yield no deposit in bouquet preparations. 


Rose Cuirure 1n FRANCE. 


As before observed, the cultivation of the rose in the south of 
France, especially in the neighbourhood of Grasse, has enormously 
increased. Otto of rose and rose-water are made, but the flowers 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 41 


are principally used for the manufacture of rose pommade and 
the spirituous extract therefrom, the demand for both of which 
for France and abroad is very great. 

The variety of rose there grown is the R. centifolia, Linn, The 
bushes are set in rows, but not so close together as to form thick 
hedges as in Bulgaria, nor do the plants attain such a height. 
Ground gently sloping to the south-east is preferred. Young 
shoots are taken from a five-year old tree, and are planted in 
ground which has been well broken up to a depth of three or four 
feet. When the young plant begins to branch out, the top of it 
is cut off about a foot from the ground. During the first year 
the farmer picks off the buds that appear, im order to develop 
and strengthen the plant. In the fourth or fifth year the tree is 
in its full yielding condition. A rose-tree will live to a good age, 
but does not yield much after its seventh year; at that period it 
is dug up and burned, and the land planted with some other plant 
for one year. 

The flowering begins about mid-April, and lasts through May 
to early June, a time so short that difficulty is experienced in 
dealing with the enormous quantity of blossom produced, for of 
course loss of perfume occurs if the flowers are not immediately 
used. The buds on the point of opening are picked in the early 
morning. On some days as many as 150 tons of roses are 
gathered in the province of the Alpes Maritimes. At the factory 
the petals are first completely separated from the green parts; 
this work is done by women, seated at long benches under a shed. 
The separated petals, of which there are sometimes as much as 
four tons accumulated on the flcor at one time in one factory, are 
then either distilled with water for the production of rose-water, 
or for the otto, or they are subjected to the process of maceration 
in warm fat or in olive-oil for the purpose of obtaining the per- 
fumed pommade or oil, and these products afterwards finished off 
by the process of “ enfleurage.” From such pommade and oil 
the “extrait de rose” is afterwards obtained. These several 
processes are hereafter described. 


42 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


PERFUMES SOMEWHAT RESEMBLING THE Rose. 
Geranium. 


African, Spanish, French, and Réunion geranium oil is derived 
from three species of Pelargonium, the P. odoratissimum (Will- 
denow)*, P. capitatum (Aiton)t, and P. roseum (Willd.)t, a variety 
of P. radula (Ait.)§; but the plants in actual cultivation are 
varieties of these pelargoniums, and are not true in character to 
specimens of the above-named as grown in England, nor do they 
exactly accord with descriptions and plates of the same. 

The plants are cultivated in open fields in many parts of 
Algeria, notably at La Trappe de Staoiieli near the Bay of Sidi 
Ferruch, at Castiglione, at Sahel in the good red soil consisting 
of a decomposition of micaceous schists, at Boufarik, at Blidah, 
at Grand Chérakas and at Guyoville, in the environs of Con- 
stantine, and in the plains of Métidja close to Algiers |. 

Originally the plants were cultivated on dry arid slopes, where 
they were stunted in growth but yielded a perfume of great 
delicacy ; now, on the contrary, the plantations are established on 
low-lying and rather humid soil, which yields three crops annually 
instead of one. By a system of irrigation which floods the plan- 
tations, the proprietors force the growth of the plant to a height 
of about 30 inches, and nearly an inch in thickness in the stem. 
Under these conditions the oil is produced in much greater 
abundance, but the quality is sensibly inferior. (‘This observation 
on the immediate effect of a moist soil on the secretions of a plant 
which naturally prefers a dry soil is in accordance with the ob- 
servations of Linnzus.) The irrigation process is now so general 
that for 1 hectare of land cultivated “ dry,” 200 hectares will be 
found “irrigated.” The very superior product of the “ dry ” 
method is rarely sold separately, but is generally mixed with 
common oil (called “ géranium irrigué ”’) to ameliorate the quality. 

Ordinary stills are used for the distillation, which is carried on 
during the whole time of each harvest. It is estimated that 300 
kilos of the plant yield 1 kilo of oil. The plant is gathered a 


* Cavanilles, Monadelphie Diss. iv. t. 103. fig. 1. 

+ Andrews, Coloured engs. of Geraniums. 

¢ Botanist’s Repository, p. 173. § Botanical Mag. t. 95. 
|| Exp. de Paris, 1878, Cat. Spéc. de l’Algérie. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 43 


little before the opening of its flowers, when the lemon-like odour 
which it at first possesses gives place to the odour of rose. The 
critical point is recognizable by the leaves beginning to turn 
yellow. The oil is formed entirely in the leaves and all the green 
parts of the plant, the petals yielding no odorous product what- 
ever, but in order to waste no time in detaching the flowers they 
are put in with the branches. The odour which may be thought 
to be perceived in the flower is simply due to the secreting organs 
in the calyx and peduncle. 

The Pelargonium is also cultivated and distilled in other countries, 
as in Spain (near Valencia, and recently in the province of Almeria), 
Italy, Corsica, the Island of Bourbon, and in Provence. The 
Spanish oil is considered the finest (probably owing to the fact 
that the plantations are not “irrigated”); the plant which pro- 


Fig. 3. 


aa 


duces it is said to be the same variety of pelargonium as the 
Algerian plant. The oil from Provence ranks equally as regards 
quality with the Spanish ; a “ superfine” oil is also manufactured 
in Provence by adding rose-petals to the still. The Corsican oil 


44. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


is only exported in small quantities, but the Bourbon production 
annually increases in importance. 

The variety of Pelargonium cultivated at Grasse is represented 
by the annexed illustration, which is a facsimile of a living leaf 
of a specimen of the plant kindly supplied to the writer by Messrs. 
Warrick fréres, of Grasse. The plant is propagated by cuttings 
which are set in well-sheltered beds in October. During the 
frosts they are covered over with straw matting. In April they 
are taken up and planted in rows in fields or upon easily irrigated 
terraces. ‘They soon form bushes three or four feet high. At 
Nice they generally flower at the end of August. At Grasse and 
cooler places they flower about the end of October. The whole 
flowering plant is put into the still. 

The green colour of the Réunion oil is not the result of the 
presence of copper, but is probably due to the same cause as the 
colour in Cajeput oil. 

Oil of Pelargonium should dissolve perfectly in from 2 to 3 
volumes of 70 vol. per cent. alcohol at 20° C.*, forming a clear 
solution. If any considerabie proportion of fatty oil be present, 
the mixture appears milky, but if a very little oil is admixed it 
appears only turbid, and after standing some time a greasy coating 
forms on the sides of the vessel. 

It has been remarked that if geranium oil be kept in tins it 
acquires a very repulsive odour by prolonged contact with the 
metallic surface. It is, therefore, advisable to pour the oil into 
glass bottles as soon as received, and should the smell not dis- 
appear, the oil must be poured out and exposed to the air for 
several hours in an open basin. 

The sp. gr. of the Algerian oil is 0°899, and that of Réunion 
0°891 (Schimmel). 


“ Indian Geranium,” or Ginger-grass Oil. 


This oil is distilled in India from the leaves of Andropogon 
Schenanthus, Linneus ; synonymous with A. Martini, Roxburgh, 
A. nardoides, Nees, A. Pachnodes, Trinnius+, A. Calamus aroma- 
ticus, Roylet, A. Iwarancusa, Schultes §, and Cymbopogon Mar- 

* Jaillard, Journ. de Pharm, xxvii. p. 205. 
+ Spec. Gram. iii. t. 327. ® 

+ Illust. Bot. Himalayan Mountains, i. p. 425, t. 97. 

§ Phil. Trans. lxxx. p. 284, t. 16. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 45 


tint, Munro; but not the A. Schenanthus of Wallich*, which is 
identical with A. citratus, De Cand., and yields Lemon-grass oil. 
In Modeen Sheriff’s ‘Supplement to the Pharmacopeeia of India,’ 
the vernacular names of Lemon-grass are given under A. Schenan- 
thus mstead of under A. citratus. 

The various vernacular names for the plant in India are :—Agya- 
ghds and Ganda-bena, Bengal; Bujina and Pala-Khari, N.W. 
Provinces; Mirchia-gard, Siwaliks; Rose-gavat and Rohisha, 
Bombay ; Ratins, Punjab. 

The oil is known in commerce under a variety of names, such 
as, in England, “ Ginger-grass,” ‘Turkish Oil of Geranium,” 
“*Rusa-grass Oil,” “Oil of Nimar” or “‘ Nemaur.” In the 
otto-producing districts of the Balkan it is known to Europeans 
as “‘ Essence of Geranium” and oil of ‘‘ Palma-Rosa;” in India 
it is called “ Rusa Oil,” “ Roshel,”’ ‘* Rusa-ka-tel ;”? in Egypt, 
Arabia, and Constantinople it appears under the names of “ Idris- 
Yaghi” and ‘‘ Entreshah,” names which may mislead to the belief 
in a variety of oils produced from several plants. These names 
seem to be mostly of modern origin. The name “ Rusa-grass ”’ is 
certainly more appropriate than “ Ginger-grass.”” There is a grass 
found about old wells near Bombay which really has an odour of 
ginger, but it is rather a rare plant. The name “ geranium oil” 
has caused much confusion with the true geranium oil derived 
from various species of Pelargonium, and has apparently come into 
existence from the fact that the so-called “ ginger-grass oil”’ is 
used to adulterate the true geranium oil, which, in its turn, is used 
to adulterate the otto of rose. The grass is found growing wild in 
large tracts in the Northern and Eastern provinces, and particu- 
larly in the North-west Provinces and the Punjab; it is abundant 
everywhere in the Deccan, in Central India, and is cultivated in 
Kashmir in localities formerly devoted to the rose. It has recently 
been discovered in British Baluchistan, by J. H. Lace, Deputy 
Commissioner of Forests in India. In his valuable paper on the 
“Vegetation of the Hurnai Railway Route,” recently read before the 
Linnean Society +, he mentions having found it on the lower hills. 

Apparently the first mention made of this oil was by Maxwell 
in 1825 {, but it is only within comparatively recent times that 

* Plant. As. Rar, iii. t. 280. 


+ Journ. Linn. Soe. xxviii. p. 293. 
t Calcutta Med. and Phys. Trans, i. p. 367, 


46 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


it has had any commercial value. From the fact of one of the 
largest supplies of Rusa oil being from the Nimar district of 
Khandésh, Bombay Presidency, the oil has come to bear the com- 
mercial name of Nimar, Nimaur, and Namar. Dr. Dymock, 
describing the manufacture in this district, states that an iron still 
is used, and only a very small quantity of water added to the grass; 
when the still is carelessly worked the grass burns, and communi- 
cates a dark colour to the oil, which should be of a pale sherry 
colour when good. The odour at first recalls that of the rose, but 
this sensation is almost immediately followed by a strong odour 
of lemonor citron. By rectification the oi] is rendered colourless, 
and the odour of lemon is then much less marked. 

The grass flowers in October and November, and is then fit for 
cutting. Dr. Dymock states that 373 lbs. of grass received from 
Khandésh and distilled under his own superintendence in Bombay, 
yielded 1 lb. 54 ozs. of oil. 

The oil is largely adulterated in the districts where it is distilled, 
the distillers being regularly supplied with turpentine from Bombay; 
the oils of gurjon, coker-nut, ground-nut, rape, linseed, and 
cotton-seed being also used. With turpentine and ground-nut the 
resulting turbidity passes off in a day or two, hence they are pre- 
ferred; especially turpentine, as it is not at once detected by the 
evaporation test. The oil is exported from Bombay to the Red 
Sea ports (chiefly to Yedda), to Constantinople, Trieste, and 
London. Before being sent to Turkey, which absorbs the great 
bulk of it, large quantities are sent to Paris for rectification. In 
Turkey it is subjected to a special treatment, which appears to 
render it more fit to mix with otto of rose without betraying its 
odour ; this process consists in shaking it with water acidulated 
with lemon-juice, and then exposing it to the sun and air. By 
this process it loses its penetrating after-smell and acquires a pale 
straw-colour. This process was described by Mr. Baur of Con- 
stantinople*. 

As found on the London market it varies greatly in quality. A 
distinction is often made commercially between Oil of Palma Rosa 
and Essence of Indian Geranium, although both are identical pro- 
ducts of the same plant; the first is probably only a superior 
quality, or contains a small addition of oil of pelargonium. For 


* Neues Jahrbuch fiir pharm. Jan. 1867. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 47 


some years past an “ essence of geranium” has been received from 
Java, possessing all the characters of Palma Rosa, but its exact 
botanical origin and method of production are unknown. Some 
samples of Palma Rosa have a decided odour of Lily of the Valley. 
An oil termed “ Huille essentielle de Pataque Malgache ”’ has been 
introduced from the Island of Réunion, described as distilled from 
** Andropogon fragrans”’ (evidently a fancy name), with an odour 
identical with Indian ginger-grass oil. 

The sp. gr. of “ Indian geranium oil,” according to Semmler*, 
is 0°8868 to 0°8871 at 16° C. (two specimens being examined), and 
the optical rotation 20’ to the left, in a column of 100mm. (Dr. 
Dymock found the oil to be dextrogyre, deviating the ray 39° to 
the right in a 100 mm. tube, and 78° in a 200 mm. tube ; he appends 
the remark that some samples of ‘‘ commercial” oil rotate the ray 
about 13° to the right, and some have little or no effect upon it. 
As he further remarks that all ‘‘ commercial” oil is more or less 
adulterated, it is inferred that the optical rotation is more or less 
active proportionately.) 

This oil, when pure, forms a clear solution in dilute alcohol in 
very nearly the same proportions as does oil of pelargonium, so 
that when fixed oils are present they can be easily detected. A 
process for the quantitative estimation of fixed oil by saponification 
with caustic potash has been recommended +. 

Geraniol, C,)H,,0.—This alcohol constitutes 92 per cent. of 
pure oil of “Indian geranium.” It is a colourless, strongly re- 
fractive liquid boiling at 120°5 to 122°5 C., under a pressure of 
17 mm.; by oxidation with potassium permanganate it yields 
valerianic acid, and by oxidation with chromic acid mixture it is 
converted into geranium aldehyde, C,,H,,O, which is identical 
with citral. By further oxidation with argentic oxide, Semmler 
prepared geranic acid, C,)H;,O,, a limpid oil, and by treating citral 
with acid sulphate of potassium Cymol was formed, a molecule of 
water being abstracted {. Geraniol is nearly related to, and iso- - 
meric with rhodinol, C,)H,,O, the aleohol which forms the prin- 
cipal constituent of otto of rose, and which, by oxidation, yields 
the aldehyde rhodinal, closely resembling citral as above observed. 

Geranyl chloride, C,)H,;Cl, is obtained by the action of hydro- 
chloric acid on geraniol. It is an oily liquid having an odour 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xxiii. p. 1098. +t Chem. News, xxx. p. 293. 
{ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xxiii, (1890) p. 3556, and xxiv. (1891) p. 203. 


48 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


resembling that of camphor, and decomposes on heating. Geranyl 
bromide and iodide may be obtained from this by the action of 
potassium bromide and iodide. 
_. Geranyl valerate, benzoate, and cinnamate have been prepared. 
They are pleasant-smelling liquids, but cannot be distilled without 
decomposition. 
Geranyl ether, (C,)H,;),0, is formed when the chloride is heated 
with water, or to between 100° and 200° with geraniol. It has a 
characteristic smell of peppermint, and boils at 187°-190°. 


Many plants contain in their leaves, wood, and roots volatile 
oils which are likened in fragrance to that of the rose, but the 
likeness is very distant, although the rose is their type of odour. 

The Rhus aromatica (Aiton) or Fragrant Sumach has been 
described by Harper, in the ‘ American Journal of Pharmacy,’ as 
possessing an odour similar to Rose-Geranium. 

“ Rose-wood oil” is distilled from the wood of the Convolvulus 
scoparius; this oil is also called Oil of Rhodium, and before 
the rose-geranium was much cultivated used to be in great demand. 
The odour, which is very weak, is not perceptible until the wood 
is rasped, and the yield of oil is very small. 

The root of the Rhodiola rosea, or “ Rose-root,” when bruised, 
and even when dried, yields a rose-like scent; it is a species of 
Sedum growing on damp rocks on the high mountains of Scotland, 
Treland, and the north of England, also on sea-cliffs. 

The “ Tulip-wood ” of Brazil, Physocalymna floribundum, some- 
times called Brazilian Rose-wood, emits a slight odour of rose when 
rasped ; a precisely similar wood has been imported from China. 

The wood of ‘‘ Dysoxylon Fraserianum,”’ a tree of New South 
Wales, has the same perfume. 

The wood of the Colliguaja odorifera when burned exhales an 
agreeable rose-like smell*. 

In the French Guiana collection of woods at the Paris Exhibi- 
tion, 1878, a specimen of rose-scented wood was exhibited, said to 
be derived from the Licaria Kanali, a species of Acrodiclidium, 
but the essential oil is identical with that of Mexican Lign-aloe. 

The volatile oil of Asarum Canadense is said to be now used 
in the United States to a considerable extent in perfumery for 
strengthening the odour of other perfumes. Its odour is com- 
pared to that of rhodium or santal-wood. 


* Molina’s ‘History of Chili,’ i. p. 129. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 49 


The odour of rose has been noticed in the double rose-coloured 
flowers of the Peonia albiflora var. fragrans, a handsome shrub of 
about three feet in height, native of the north of China*. The 
flowers of Peonia albiflora var. Whitleji, when on the point of falling 
from the tree, emit a scent somewhat like that of elder-flowers +. 

The flowers of Chamedorea fragrans, a native of Bolivia, have 
the odour of the Maréchal Niel rose. 


There are several artificial preparations known in Chemistry 
possessing an odour somewhat like Rose and Rose-Geranium, for 
instance :— 

Ammonium salicylite—By agitating salicylol (oil of Spirea 
Ulmaria) with strong aqueous ammonia at a gentle heat it erystal- 
lizes on cooling in yellow needles. It is slightly soluble in cold 
water, still less in alcohol, melts at 115°, and volatilizes without 
alteration at a higher temperature. When kept in a moist state 
in aclosed vessel, it gradually decomposes, blackens, becomes semi- 
fluid, gives off ammonia, and acquires a very penetrating odour of 
roses t. Calcium salicylite, after being kept for a time and then 
distilled with water, is said to give the same result ; and an aqueous 
distillate faintly approaching it results from treating methy] sali- 
cylate (oil of Gaultheria procumbens) with caustic potash. 

The name Methylbenzylenic ether was applied by Wicke § to a 
compound having a geranium odour prepared as follows :—“< A 
mixture of one atom of chloride of benzylene with a solution of 
two atoms of sodium in absolute methylic alcohol is heated for 
some hours, when sodium chloride separates in abundance, the 
methylic alcohol is distilled off, and the residue mixed with water, 
when the ether rises to the surface and is removed with a pipette, 
dried, and rectified. It is a transparent colourless liquid, heavier 
than water, soluble in alcohol or ether. It boils at 208° C., leaving 
a brown residue arising from decomposition. 

Phenyl paratoluate.—Paratoluic acid is prepared by the oxida- 
tion of cimene with nitric acid. The cymene which is contained 
in Roman cumin oil, and which can easily be obtained from cam- 
phor, is heated for a considerable time in an apparatus connected 
with an inverted condenser with a mixture of one volume of nitric 


* Anderson, in Linn. Trans. xii. p. 260; Bot. Reg. p. 485; Hort. Trans, ii. t. 18. 
+ Anderson, Linn. Trans. xii. p. 259, and Bot. Rep. p. 612. 
¢ Ann. Chem. Pharm. xxix. p. 309. § Ibid. cil. p. 356. 

E 


50 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


acid, sp. gr. 1°38, and four volumes of water, then neutralized 
with caustic soda and boiled in order to remove unattacked cymene 
and nitro-products, It is then precipitated with hydrochloric acid 
and the precipitate freed from nitroparatoluic acid &c. by boiling 
with tin and hydrochloric acid. The product always contains 
terephthalic acid, which remains behind on treatment with water. 
The paratoluic acid is finally purified by distillation with steam *. 
Paratoluy] chloride is next prepared, and this is heated with sodium 
salicylate. A viscid mass of paratoluylsalicylic acid, resembling 
turpentine, is formed, and decomposes into phenyl paratoluate and 
carbon dioxide on distillation with lime. It forms white plates, 
which have a nacreous lustre, smell like geranium, and melt at 
71°-72°+. The methyl and ethyl paratoluates are also fragrant. 

Phenyl benzoate.—Benzoyl chloride is first obtained by the 
action of dry chlorine on pure oil of bitter almonds, It is a 
transparent liquid, the vapour of which violently attacks the eyes, 
and has a peculiar, very penetrating odour resembling the sharp 
smell of horseradish. When benzoyl chloride is heated with 
phenol until hydrochloric acid ceases to be evolved, phenylbenzoate 
is formed. It is readily soluble in alcohol and ether, and crystal- 
lizes from a mixture of these in lustrous, monoclinic prisms, which 
melt at 71° and sublime at a higher temperature. In odour it 
resembles that of geranium f{. 

Methyl benzoate (“ Niobe essence’’) is afterwards described. 

The investigations made on “ grass oils ” by F. D. Dodge at the 
Organic Laboratory, School of Mines, New York (1889), are 
interesting as regards the rose and geranium odours, especially 
as the grass oils are procurable at their place of production in 
unlimited quantities. The following abstract of his paper on oil 
of Citronella refers to the Rose odour. 

Citronellic aldehyde.—Oil of Andropogon Nardus is shaken for 
ten minutes with a saturated solution of sodium bisulphite. The 
liquid solidifies into a white magma with considerable evolution of 
heat ; the vessel should therefore be kept cool withice. The pre- 
cipitate is wrapped in flannel, and after draining on a large funnel 
is carefully pressed in a filter press, thinned with ether or chloro- 


* Ann, Chem. Pharm. clxii. p. 539, and ibid. ecv, p. 118. 
+ Chem, Centralbl. 1859, p. 84. 
t Jahresber. 1879, p. 675, 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 51 


form, filtered, pressed, and washed with the same solvents (in 
which it is practically insoluble). The washed bisulphite com- 
pound, now free from residual oil, is freed from ether by exposure 
to the air for a few hours. At this stage it has the appearance of 
wax orsoap. To liberate the aldehyde, the dry mass is mixed 
with crystallized sodic carbonate, in the proportion of 450 grammes 
of the former to 350 grammes of the latter, in a large flask. 
Steam is then admitted into the mixture, which now liquefies, and 
yields a distillate of about 250 grammes. 

On fractionating this oil, the first portion, amounting to 75 c.c., 
is limpid and colourless, boils between 177° and 180°, and has a 
lemon-like odour. The second portion, a somewhat thicker oil 
amounting to 120 c. c., and boiling between 222° and 224°, is of a 
slightly greenish colour, and has a pleasant rose-like odour *. 

Another observer, Kremers (Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assn. 1887), 
found that the sodium bisulphite compound could be decomposed 
by dilute sulphuric acid at a gentle heat, and the sulphur dioxide 
removed by dry potassium carbonate. The aldehyde thus obtained 
being a viscid yellow liquid, possessing a geranium-like odour. 


As before cbserved, otto of rose and rose-water, obtained by 
distillation, do not give an idea of the true odour of rose, the most 
delicate fragrance being destroyed by contact with boiling water, 
In a manufacturing way the fragrance of the rose m its integrity 
is more nearly obtainable by subjecting the separated petals to the 
process of “ maceration” in pure grease, and finishing off the 
product by the process of “enfleurage;” the perfume being 
ultimately extracted from the grease by a solvent. Many flowers 
whose perfumes are destroyed by heat are submitted to these 
processes. 

In the first process, when oil is used, it is the very finest olive- 
oil produced by the trees in the neighbourhood of Grasse, or that 
part of the coast. This is put into copper vats holding about 50 
gallons; 1 ewt. of flowers is added and well stirred in. After an 
immersion of some hours, and in some cases a whele day, the 
flowers are strained out by means of a large tin sieve. The oil is 
treated with several successive charges of flower until sufficiently 
impregnated. It is then clarified by filtration through paper or a 


* American Chemical Journal, xi. p. 457. 


E2 


52 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


hair-cloth sieve. When fat is employed as the macerating agent, 
the fat used is beef-suet mixed with the lard of the common hog ; 
that kind known commercially as “ corn-fed lard” being preferred, 
as it is superior to other grades in many respects. It melts at 81° 
F., and is softer and more fusible than suet. The success of the 
operation depends on the absolute purity of the grease. To bring 
it into a suitable condition it is “ pan-rendered”’ by dry steam, and 
after being repeatedly melted with alum, salt, and nitre, it is 
washed over and over again with plain water and then with rose- 
water. Finally, it is again melted with a little gum-benzoin. 
The grease thus purified has lost all trace of animal origin, and is 
carefully stowed away until required for use in the basements of 
the factories, which are cool and dry and where it is not subject 
to change. 

Considerable efforts have been made to introduce vaseline, 
petrolin, paraffin, and other such purified mineral products in the 
place of the purified animal grease, and practical experiments on a 
large scale have been made to test the efficiency of these products, 
with the result that although they were found to have a very ab- 
sorbent property, they have not the power of retention, and that 
after a few months they lose about half the perfume imparted to 
them ; consequently for pommades and enflowered oils for export 
they cannot be used. This is a recent opinion, given in answer to 
my inquiry, by one of the largest firms at Grasse ; my informant 
adding that purified grease and olive-oil are the best materials 
known at present for absorbing the perfume of flowers successfully. 

Tn the process of maceration, one hundredweight of the purified 
grease is placed in a tinned copper vessel capable of holding 5 ewt. 
and melted at as low a temperature as possible by means of a 
water-bath or steam-jacket. About 1 cwt. of flowers are then 
added and well stirred in with a wooden spatula. The flowers are 
wholly immersed and left for a day, care being taken to stir the 
mixture occasionally. Every day the flowers are strained off, and 
fresh ones put into the same pommade until it is at full concentra- 
tion. As the flowers which are strained off take up a quantity of 
grease, this is separated by re-melting, straining through a hair- 
sieve, and submitting the marc, wrapped in cloths, to hydraulic 
pressure (the same is done with the mare from olive-oil). The 
fat squeezed out is accompanied by the moisture of the flowers, 
from which it is separated by skimming. All the grease is finally 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 53 


cooled very slowly so as to allow the impurities to settle. The 
clear upper portion is then poured into tin canisters and is ready 
for sale, or for immediate use in making the spirituous extract. 
The annexed diagram represents an improved apparatus invented 
by Piver for maceration and described by Turgan, in the ‘ Grandes 
Usines de France.’ The tank on the left supplies the liquid 
grease heated to the proper temperature, which circulates slowly 
through the macerating tank, in which a constant temperature is 
maintained by means of a steam-pipe. The macerating tank is 
divided into seven compartments, in which perforated metal 
baskets containing the flowers to be extracted are suspended. The 
basket on the left contains the flowers which have successively 


passed through all the compartments; it is removed from time 
to time, filled with fresh flowers and then attached on the extreme 
right; the other baskets being each moved a compartment to the 
left. In this way the fresh flowers have to traverse each compartment 
from right to left, while the grease flows slowly from left to right, 
and, saturated with the perfume of the flowers, collects in its 
greatest strength on the extreme right. By this method, the 
inventor states that all the perfume is extracted from the fiowers ; 
the grease in the first compartment being quite odourless as it 
proceeds from the cistern readily absorbs tie last traces of it, while 


5A ODOROGRAPHIA. 


the grease in the seventh compartment, already almost saturated, 
takes up the superabundance of perfume from the fresh flowers, 
whereas it would not be able to absorb the last traces from the 
flowers which have been nearly exhausted by passing on to the 
first basket. 

The method of making the spirituous extract consists in beating 
up the perfumed pommade with alcohol. The pommade is first 
granulated or passed through a macaroni press (what is called in 
London a “ Piping press”), so as to bring it into a fine state of 
division and offer a large surface to be acted upon by the strong 
spirit (80 or 90 per cent. alcohol) with which it is agitated. This 
takes place in large drum-shaped copper cylinders, standing upright, 
and provided with powerful stirrers which revolve in opposite 
directions, the motion being given by cog-wheels connected by a 
band with the main shafting. About 12 gallons of alcohol is 
first poured in, the pommade is then introduced, and the lid 
bolted on; this is rendered air-tight by an india-rubber washer. 
The stirrers are then set in motion, and in a little time the con- 
tents are thoroughly blended and form a creamy mass. The 
stirring is continued for many hours, at the end of which time 
the contents are allowed to remain quiescent. The fat subsides 
and the alcohol is drawn off and passed through tubes surrounded 
with iced water, which solidifies and separates the remainder of 
the fat mechanically held in solution in the alcohol. The same 
pommade is subsequently washed with one or two more charges of 
spirit, by which time all the perfume is absorbed. The grease is 
now free from all scent, but by this process has acquired a great 
tendency to become rancid. It would appear that decomposition of 
the fat commences during the long kneading with alcohol in con- 
tact with air, although the drums in which the extracts are made 
are kept well closed. The fat is lastly placed in a steam-jacketed 
still to recover the alcohol mechanically mixed with it; but it is 
not again employed in any part of the factory. It is used by 
toilet-soap manufacturers, to whom it is very valuable on account 
of its great purity. Another sort of “agitator” for this purpose 
was invented by Piver; it seems particularly suitable for use with 
the perfumed oil; the contents of the vessels being subjected to a 
duplicated movement by reason of the vessels not being fixed axially 
in the same plane of rotation as that of the machine; by this 
arrangement the extremities of each cylinder are alternately high 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 55 


and low as the axle revolves, which of course adds a “ shaking- 


up” motion to the revolving motion, and so effects constant ad- 
mixture or friction of the particles. This peculiar oblique rota- 
tory movement produces a more intimate mixture than an ordi- 
nary churn-movement. It is, however, doubtful whether Piver’s 
“agitator”? can bring the particles of grease into such a fine 
state of division, or mix them so thoroughly with the spirit, as 
does the upright cylinder enclosing agitators revolving both ways 
like an “ egg-whisk.” 

The cold process of “Enfleurage”? may be described as 
follows :—Grease, purified as before described, is spread to the 
thickness of about a quarter of an inch on both sides of panes 
of glass enclosed in wooden frames like window sashes; these 
frames are called “ chdssis,’ and are about two feet wide and three 
feet long. The flowers are then sprinkled on the upper surface of 
the greased surfaces and the chassis piled up in a stack. As the 
edges of these frames are quite flat, they superpose one on the 
other in such a way as to form a series of almost air-tight com- 
partments, the upper and lower surfaces of which are composed of 
grease. LHvery day, during the flowering season, these sashes are 
taken down, and the flowers changed, ach time that fresh 
flowers are put on the grease it is worked about with a palate- 
knife, and the surface serrated or furrowed, so as to present a 
new surface to the flowers. This is repeated until the fat is 
sufficiently impregnated. 

Olive-oil is also enflowered by a similar process, but in place of 
glass the frames are furnished with coarse wire gauze stretched 
between its four sides ; these frames are called ‘‘ chdssis en fer.” 
Upon the wire gauze is laid a very thick soft cotton cloth with a 
fluffy surface like a bath-towel. This cloth is called a “ molleton,” 
and is saturated with pure olive-oil. The flowers are placed on 
these cloths, and, after frequent renewal with fresh flowers, the 
cloths are folded together and put under a powerful press. 

The perfume is finally extracted from the solid grease, or from 
the oil, by agitation with strong spirit (90 per cent. alcohol) ; the 
same process as above described. 

Other processes have been invented for the extraction of per- 
fumes without the aid of heat. The superiority of any process 
over the old-fashioned one above described must consist in the 
facility of thoroughly extracting the flowers while quite fresh, 


56 . ODOROGRAPHIA. 


before any decay has taken place in the petals, also without 
causing any change by oxidation of the molecules of aroma during 
the process. The process must work rapidly, so as to dispose of 
a great bulk of flower at once, and so keep pace with the harvest 
during the very short time which it lasts, in fact to use up every 
day the whole of the flower which can in that day be cut. 

In 1856 an invention was patented in France by Piver* called 
a pneumatic process. ‘This consisted in spreading the flowers on 
perforated metallic plates enclosed in an air-tight chamber, and 
passing through them a current of carbonic acid gas, which was 
afterwards conducted into a vessel containing liquid grease kept 
fluid by heat; this vessel was fitted with revolving plates so as 
to continually present a fresh surface to the gas, and so absorb 
the particles of perfume with which the gas was impregnated ; 
the gas was then passed through a second vessel fitted in the 
same way, and was then forced again through the chamber con- 
taining the flowers, thus being made to circulate several times, in 
order to abstract all the particles of aroma and deposit them on 
the absorbent grease. 

Another apparatus was toute in France by Piver in 18597, 
and described by Turgan in his ‘ Grandes Usines de France,’ 1865, 
peiz9., itis deatal as follows :—The apparatus consists of 
two chambers communicating with each other at the basement, 
and fitted with moveable perforated metal trays on which the 
flowers are strewn; between these trays are plates of glass on 
which is placed the grease, not spread as a paste but in a sub- 
divided condition obtamed by forcing it through a piping press 
and cutting it into small cylinders, The air is forced to and fro 
between the two chambers by means of a bellows arrangement on 
the top of each chamber, and the plates of glass, which are a trifle 
narrower than the width of the chamber, are arranged in an alter- 
nate manner so that the current of air travels between each plate, 
as explained in the annexed illustration. The doors of the appa- 
ratus fit air-tight, and are closed during the operation, so that the 
same air constantly travels from one chamber to the other. The 
inventor of this apparatus claims that flowers can be exhausted of 
their perfume with great rapidity, and it can be absorbed either 
by finely-divided grease or by olive-oil soaked into cotton cloths. 


* Brevet 15950, + No. 41090. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 57 


In both cases the extraction by alcohol is effected in the usual 
way (as described for rose-pommade). Another patent was taken 
out in France by Piver in 1872* for “ Improvements in processes 
for the ‘ enfleurage ’ of fatty substances.” 


In 1888 a process was patented in England by Nellenstein, a 
chemist of Amsterdam+, to extract the perfume of flowers by 
means of a vacuum and refrigeration. The flowers being placed 
in a vessel of sufficient strength to resist external atmospheric 
pressure, the air was exhausted and caused to pass through a 
vessel surrounded by a freezing-mixture, and then into a third 


* No, 95326, + Patent No, 15299. 


58 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


vessel containing an absorbent such as vaseline or purified grease 
placed on perforated shelves. In this patent no arrangement is 
made for passing the same air a second time over the flowers, the 
inventor claiming to abstract the perfume in a condensed form in 
the refrigerator and in the grease at one operation. 

Another process, very similar to Piver’s inventions, was patented 
in England in 1888* by Hagemann of London. According to 
the Specification, carbonic acid or nitrogen gas is passed through 
a vessel containing the flowers, and becoming charged with the 
volatile particles is caused to pass through another receptacle into 
a substance suitable for fixing them, such substance to be one 
having little or no retaining action on the gas, such as purified fat, 
glycerine, or a strong solution of sugar. The gas, after being 
thus freed from the volatile bodies, is then caused to pass again 
through the flowers, and to circulate in this way until all the 
perfume is eliminated. The inventor claims that, as this opera- 
tion can be performed at a low temperature and as the circulating 
gas is practically innoxious to the flowers, the products obtained’ 
are in a high state of perfection. 

The reason why some strongly scented flowers yield no volatile 
oil by distillation, even by repeated cohobation with water, is 
partly because the quantity of oil contained in them is very minute 
or is very soluble in water or (which is very likely) it is apt to 
decompose by the combined action of heat, air, and water. Of 
such plants are the Narcissus, Hyacinth, Jonquille, Violet, 
Tubereuse, &c. From some of them it has been found possible to 
isolate the odoriferous principle. As far back as 1835 Robiquet + 
exhausted the fresh corollas of the Jonquille with ether in a com- 
pression-filter, separated the upper yellow ethereal stratum of 
liquid from the lower watery one, distilled the ether from the 
liquid at a gentle heat, and obtained a residue consisting of crys- 
taliine nodules together with a mother-liquid, which, when eva- 
porated in the air, gave off a strong and agreeable odour of the 
flowers. The crystalline nodules, when purified, formed an in- 
odorous camphor and appeared to be the odoriferous oil converted 
into camphor by exposure to the air. Buchner obtained similar 
results by applying Robiquet’s process to the flowers of Lilac, Lime, 
and Mignonette {. In 1855 further experiments were made by 


* No. 6851. + Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim. xxi. p. 334. 
t N. Br. Arch. viii. p. 70. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 59 


Millon and patented by Ferrand, his co-worker (Brevet 22404) *. 
The flowers were packed in a displacement-apparatus and exhausted 
by disulphide of carbon or ether: the odorous principle was then 
isolated by evaporating the solvent. This process was found im- 
practicable on a large scale owing to the danger of manipulating 
large quantities of the solvent in open vessels ; it was also found 
that the residuary resinous matter retained the odour of the di- 
sulphide of carbon or of the ether, which could not be removed 
without destroying the odorous principle. 

In 1862 the experiments were repeated by Piver, who endeavoured 
to remove the last traces of the solvent by washing the product 
with a weak alkaline solution and so leave the perfume pure + ; 
but that idea had already been patented by Deiss of Marseilles f, 
and does not appear to have proved successful, probably owing to 
the great susceptibility of such delicate perfumes to deterioration 
or alteration by contact with alkalies. 

Patents were also taken out by Lemettais & Bonniére of Rouen 
for the extraction of the odours of spices and living plants by 
disulphide of carbon, and rectification by alkalies and salts of 
lead §. The processes of Ville || and of Hirtzel{, which were 
modifications of Millon’s process, the former employing chloro- 
form and the latter petroleum ether, could not stand the test of 
practical working for similar reasons. 

A method has been recommended by Millon for the purification 
of disulphide of carbon; it is as follows :—The disulphide is first 
washed several times with water and then introduced into a large 
retort with a quantity of quicklime. After 24 hours’ contact the 
disulphide is distilled from the lime and received in a flask con- 
taining a large quantity of copper turnings which have been 
previously calcined to remove organic matters and then reduced 
by heating in a current of hydrogen. The lime from which the 
disulphide has been distilled is deeply coloured and resembles crude 
soda-ash in appearance. The disulphide of carbon thus purified 
has an ethereal odour, which, if not actually agreeable, is quite dif- 
ferent from the offensive smell of commercial disulphide. It was 
with disulphide of carbon thus purified that Millon and Commaille 

* Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim. xxx. pp. 281 & 407. 

+ Rep. de Chimie, iv. p. 286. ¢ Brevet 54126. 

§ Brevet 55499, 1858. || Brevet 47285, 1860, 

{| Brevet 61486, 1864. 


60 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


separated the perfume of the most delicate flowers, and from cow’s 
milk were able to recognize the odours of the plants eaten by the 
animals. 

From some plants which contain the odorous principle in 
exceedingly minute quantity, this principle has been isolated by 
Chardin and Massignon by distillmg with a small quantity of 
water the pommades or oils saturated by the process of enfleurage, 
saturating the distillate with salt and agitating it with ether. On 
evaporating the ether, the essence remains. In this way they suc- 
ceeded in eliminating small quantities of the essence of strawberries, 
of raspberries, of tubereuse, jasmine, and pinks. These rarities 
were very troublesome and expensive to make, and on a large scale, 
would be attended with many difficulties, such as the danger of the 
explosion of the ether vapour. This difficulty, on a small scale, 
could be overcome by substituting chloroform, because chloroform 
and its vapour are not inflammable and it evaporates most com- 
pletely and rapidly, leaving no trace of unpleasant odour as ether 
does ; chloroform may be expensive, but it could be recovered by 
condensation of its vapour. As regards the first part of the 
process, it would certainly be necessary to employ as little heat as 
possible in the distillation of the grease, to avoid decomposition ~ 
both of the grease and of the odorous principle. This might be 
accomplished by using a vacuum-still, such as are made by Berjot 
of Caen and Brinjes and Goodwin of London. 

In 1879 a patent was taken out by Massignon * for the extrac- 
tion of perfumes by making use of the solvent power of methyl 
chloride. The economic production of this liquid on a large scale 
from the molasses left in the manufacture of beet-sugar was in- 
vented by Camille Vincent +, for which he was awarded a gold 
medal by the Société d’Encouragement. Methyl chloride in the 
gaseous state is dried, purified, and condensed by pressure into 
strong metallic reservoirs. In this state it is a colourless, very 
mobile fluid, having a sweet ethereal odour. It boils at about 
— 23°C. under the normal atmospheric pressure of 0°76 m. It 
has the property of dissolving fatty bodies, resins, and essential oils. 
The apparatus used for the extraction of perfumes by the aid of this 
liquid is described { as :—1, a digestor, in which the flowers are 


* Brevet 180967, May 30. + ‘La Nature,’ June 21, 1879, 
¢ ‘ Bulletin de Ja Société d’Encouragement,’ Dec. 1879. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 61 


placed; 2, a closed vessel containing purified methyl chloride; 3, 
a closed vessel for the reception of the solvent after it is charged 
with the odorous principle of the flowers ; 4, a pump for creating a 
vacuum in vessel no. 3, by which means the chloride is vaporized 
and the vapour compressed in a refrigerating condensing-worm, 
from whence it is conducted back ina liquefied state into the vessel 
no. 2 which originally contained it. This latter portion of the 
apparatus (and it is a very important portion) is the refrigerator 
which was illustrated in ‘La Nature,’ June 21, 1879. The action 
of the apparatus is as follows:—The digestor, being filled with 
flowers, is closed; then, by means ofa valve, the liquid chloride is 
allowed to flow from vessel no. 2 into the digestor and to cover the 
flowers. After two minutes’ digestion the liquid, then charged with 
the perfume, is allowed to flow into vessel no. 3. A fresh charge of 
methyl chloride is then introduced over the same flowers, and is 
afterwards passed into vessel no. 3; this is repeated until the 
flowers are exhausted of their aroma. Finally, a vacuum is created 
in the digestor to remove the remnant of the chloride mechanically 
contained by the flowers, and the vapour is forced into the refri- 
gerator ; a jet of steam is then passed through the spent flowers, 
all resulting methyl-chloride vapour sucked out by a pump, and, 
after desiccation, liquefied by pressure. The liquid containing 
the perfume in solution in the third vessel is evaporated by ex- 
haustion ; to effect this, the vessel is surrounded with water kept 
at a temperature of about 30° C. while the pump is working; the 
evaporation of the chloride is then rapid. When the pressure- 
gauge attached to the vessel registers a vacuum of half an atmo- 
sphere (it having originally marked a pressure of 3 or4.atmospheres), 
the operation is finished. On opening the vaporizer, the perfume 
is found mixed with fatty and waxy matters. This mixture treated 
with cold alcohol yields up the perfume in all the fragrance and 
sweetness which it originally possessed in the plant. 

At the meeting of the Société d’Encouragement, December 26, 
1879, Messrs. Schneider and Naudin, chemists, of Montreuil-sous- 
bois, make a claim of priority as regards Massignon and Vincent’s 
process. Schneider and Naudin’s patents are dated April 12, 
1879*, May 21 and 26+, May 30 f, and additions to these patents 
were made on June 14, September 19, and October 14, 1879. 


* No. 130187. + No. 180873. t No. 180967. 


62 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The patent of Naudin and Schneider certainly exhibits points of 
similarity to that of Massignon and Vincent, but a glance at the. 
illustration accompanying the abstract of the specification of the 
former, given in the ‘ Pharmaceutical Journal’ [3] xiv. p. 44, 
suffices to show that with such complicated apparatus difficulty 
might be experienced in working off several tons of flowers daily 
if any part of it got out of order. The consequences of the least 
derangement in harvest-time, when perishable flowers are brought 
in quantity, would be serious. 

Another patent for extracting perfumes by means of a solvent 
was taken out in London in 1890 * by the “ Société Anonyme des 
Parfums Naturels de Cannes.” The solvent employed, by preference, 
is stated to be a light petroleum boiling at about 80° C., the flowers 
being washed in a succession of ‘ extractors” called ‘ batteries.” 
The specification of this patent is an elaborate study, consisting of 
ten pages of letterpress describing its intricacies, crowded with 
letters and numbered letters which are expected to be explanatory of 
twenty-eight figures illustrating the machinery, which is composed 
of a formidable array of batteries, extractors, boilers, gasometers, 
yacuum-pumps, purifiers, evaporators, reservoirs for compressed 
gas, gauges, purging-pipes, automatic valves, cocks and working 
cocks, and other things; to understand the technique of which 
would require workmen educated up to it. A comprehensive 
abstract of this patent might entice the reader on to the verge of 
insanity, so, as the specification is procurable at the London Patent 
Office for the modest sum of fifteen pence, the reader can purchase 
it and read it for himself on his own responsibility. 

Whatever may be the merits or demerits of all these im- 
provements and patents, it is stated by one of the largest firms of 
perfume manufacturers at Grasse, in answer to an enquiry for in- 
formation about them, that, after having made trials of various 
pneumatic processes and solvent processes, they have been aban- 
doned as not giving satisfactory results; and the old method of 
“ enfleurage-sur-chassis ” is always returned to after such trials, 
This statement, made in August 1891, does not say much for the 
value in actual work in a wholesale way of the various patented 
processes, however effectual they may be in working on small 
quantities of flower. 


* No, 5940. 


THE ODOUR OF ROSE. 63 


It may, however, be here recorded that the use of methyl] chloride 
as a solvent is recognized in the Colony of Victoria, and “‘ concrete 
oils” are there obtained by a simple process regardless of the 
disputes between French patentees. Mr. J. K. Blogg, manufac- 
turing chemist of Melbourne, gave evidence before the Royal 
Commission of Enquiry into the Vegetable Products of Victoria * 
to the following effect :—“ Concrete oils are by far the choicest 
and most valuable of all perfumes, and though the manufacture of 
them requires a little skill, yet the process is not beyond the reach 
of average Victorian intelligence. The plant required is not very 
expensive. A jacketed vacuum-pan (still) fitted with an air-pump 
and condenser, a close macerating vessel, and a receiver is all that 
is required. Fresh flowers, free from stalks, are put into the 
macerating-vessel, which is then filled up with deodorized methyl 
chloride. The flowers are allowed to remain in contact with this 
fluid for about 10 or 15 minutes. The solvent has during this 
time extracted the essence and holds it in solution. This solution 
is now transferred without exposure to the vacuum-pan, the pump 
is set in motion, quickly at first, and afterwards at a steady rate, 
to maintain a vacuum of half an atmosphere. The temperature in 
the vacuum-pan is at the same time raised to 98° F. The vacuum 
in front of the methyl chloride causes it to evaporate very quickly 
at a low temperature, the vapour passing from the pump into the 
condenser flows therefrom into the closed receiver, and is reserved 
for the treatment of fresh flowers. ‘The concrete oil will be found 
in the vacuum-pan, and may be collected after each distillation or 
left in the pan to accumulate with other subsequent operations. 
As the methyl chloride is very volatile, care should be taken to 
prevent its exposure in transferring from one vessel to another. 

“The methyl chloride may be deodorized by passing it, while in 
a gaseous state, through pure sulphuric acid. This might be done 
by evaporating from the vacuum-pan by means of the air-pump, 
the pipe from which might be made to pass to the bottom of a 
two-necked or Woulf’s bottle containing the acid, and thence on 
to the condenser from the other neck of the bottle. It would be 
necessary to keep the sulphuric acid warm in a sand-bath, so that 
the methyl chloride might not condense in the acid and fill up the 
bottle,” 


* No, 2, publ. by the Goy. Printer, Melbourne, p, 45, 


64 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


CHAPTER III. 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 


Tuer Citrine odour is a very distinct type. It is represented by 
the products of the very numerous family of the Citrus,—trees 
which flourish in all parts of the Tropics and semi-tropical 
countries, furnishing a great variety of essential oils, varying 
considerably in perfume, from their flowers, leaves, and fruit. 
The word “orange” is derived from the Sanskrit “ Narunga” 
and the Arabic “ Narung;” these names apply to the different 
varieties of the Citrus aurantium. 

The Sweet or Portugal orange is the Citrus aurantium of Risso, 
who enumerates nineteen varieties. It is a native of Asia, and 
cultivated in all warm countries on account of its delicious fruit ; 
but in every other respect the Bitter orange is superior to it, 

The Bitter or Seville orange is the Citrus Bigaradia, Duhamel, 
C. aurantium, var. amara, Linneus, and the C. vulgaris of Risso, 
who describes twelve varieties. It is a native of India, and is 
cultivated in most of the warm countries of the world. 

The Bitter orange is propagated from seed, and is considered by 
most cultivators to be quite distinct from the Sweet orange, 
although not differing from it in any important botanical point ; 
but it is at once distinguished from it by the appearance of the 
rind of its fruit, which is rougher, of a deeper reddish yellow, and 
by the very bitter taste of its fruit. The rind, the flowers, and the 
leaves are all more odorous than those of the Sweet orange. In 
the south of France the orange-trees are grown from pips, and the 
young plants are grafted when about three years old, generally with 
the Bitter orange. They are also propagated by grafting the 
Bitter orange on to seedlings of the Sour orange and on to rooted 
cuttings of the Citron, which is a rapid method of propagation and 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 65 


makes a strong stock for grafting on to. When a seedling is 
about 4 feet high it is transplanted, and allowed a year to gain 
strength before being grafted. It requires much care the first few 
years ; it must be well watered in the summer, and if at all exposed 
must have its stem covered up with straw in winter. It is not 
expected to yield a crop of flowers before the fourth year after 
transplantation. 

The Citron is the Citrus Medica, and is called in Arabic “‘Turnj”’ 
or “ Utrej,” and in Sanskrit ‘ Beejapoora;:” it is the wAdov 
unotxov of Theophrastus, a native of the Himalayas, and cultivated 
apparently from the time of the earliest Aryan settlements in 
Media, whence it derives its Greek and specific scientific name. 
Theophrastus and Virgil both call it the Malus Medica, meaning 
“ Apple of Media.” It is quite by mistake that some writers 
assume the word Medica to refer to any medicinal properties it may 
possess, and it is erroneously translated into French as “ citronnier 
médicinal.”” The tree is known in France as the “ Cédratier,” and 
the fruit as a “cédrat.” The fruits which in France are called 
“ citrons ”” are what we know as “lemons.”’ The citron fruit 
sometimes attains an enormous size; according to Ferrari (in his 
work on the ‘ Hesperides’) the Calabrian citron will weigh 4 or 
5 lbs., the Genoese citron as much as 12 lbs. and sometimes even 
more. 

The Lemon is “ Nimbuka” in Sanskrit and “ Limun” in 
Arabic. This is the Citrus limonum, a native of India. It was 
found by the Crusaders in Palestine in a cultivated state, and had 
previously been naturalized in Africa by the Arabs; also grown in 
the south of Spain, from whence it was introduced into Italy and 
the south of France. There are many varieties and hybrids of the 
lemon, the rind of the fruits of some of them being very fragrant, 
and the fruit containing abundance of acid juice—such as the 
Roman “ Lustrata,” the Genoese “ Bugnetta,’ and the Spanish 
“ Balotin.’” The ordinary Genoese lemon is cultivated on the 
borders of the Mediterranean between Nice and Genoa, in Calabria, 
Sicily, Spain, and Portugal, and on nearly the whole coast of 
Liguria, from Spezzia to Hyéres, furnishing the bulk of the fruit 
met with in commerce, it being well adapted by the thickness and 
toughness of its rind to withstand pressure in transporting it to 
the North. 

During the months of November to March the average yield of 

F 


66 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


1000 lemons in the factories at Palermo is 320 grammes of oil ; in 
those of Messina, where a better quality of fruit is employed, the 
yield is about 400 grammes. The same number of lemons yield 
about 40 litres (10 gallons) of acid liquor, which, of course, is 
utilized for citric-acid manufacture. 

Trees of the Citrus tribe do not often become diseased, 
but when a disease once manifests itself it spreads with great 
rapidity. The disease of the orange-tree was first discovered in 
the Azores in 1836, when it was found that the oldest and best 
trees, as much as 200 and 300 years old, producing each from 
5000 to 20,000 oranges, were disappearing. It was observed that 
all the trees affected produced a very heavy crop the very year that 
the disease manifested itself, that the leaves became yellow and fell 
in great quantities, and on the trunks near the ground, and some- 
times beneath the ground, the bark opened and drops of a kind of 
yellow gum exuded. The drops resembled tears—lagrimas in 
Portuguese ; therefore the disease was named “ Lagrima.” Many 
orangeries were quite destroyed. The disease was remedied by 
cutting the bark across, to allow the exudation to run out; and if 
the disease was in a very advanced state the bark and the whole of 
the diseased wood was cut out, the roots being bared to a distance 
of a foot or two from the stem, and every portion of diseased root 
cut away. If the disease was taken at an early stage this process 
was successful. The disease is not the result of age, as there are 
trees in Spain now known to be 600 or 700 years old, and when 
the disease made its appearance in Australia trees of 22 to 
25 years old, and even seedlings of one year old, were attacked. 

A report by the late Dr. Landerer states that millions of lemon- 
trees grow on the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, on Chios, 
Paros, and in the Peloponnesus, but that the same disease appeared 
amongst the trees at Paros which had ravaged the plantations of 
Sicily. The methods of extracting the essential oil by the “ éponge” 
and the “ écuelle ” were introduced into Paros by the Sicilians. 

The oils from the peel or “ zeste ” of the citrine fruits are manu- 
factured in large quantities in the north of Italy and in the 
south of France, the fruit beg taken when in a barely ripe 
state—the oil of the Bitter orange being by far more valuable 
than that of the Sweet. They are extracted by processes called 
the “Eponge” and the “Ecuelle-a-piquer,” and are termed 
“ Essence de Bigarade au Zeste” and “ Essence de Portugal au 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 67 


Zeste,’—the Bigarade referrmg to the Bitter, and the Portugal 
to the Sweet orange. The oils obtained by distillation are very 
inferior, and are termed “ Essence distillée”’ of Bigarade or of 
Portugal respectively. The same terms apply to Bergamotte, 
Citron, Lemon, and to all the Citrine fruits. The process called 
the ‘ Eponge,”’ as applied to the lemon in Sicily and Calabria, 
is briefly as follows :—In the months of November and December 
the small irregular-shaped fruits, which have but little value for 
export, are selected, preferably whilst still green, as they are then 
more rich in oil than when perfectly ripe ; the rind is removed by 
making three incisions lengthways and tbree round, the fruit itself 
being slightly cut into and left in a pyramidal shape, with a little 
piece of rind at each extremity ; the fruit is then divided by a cut 
across the middle, and put aside. The oil is then extracted by 
holding in the right hand, between the finger and thumb, a segment 
of the rind face downwards—that is to say, gripping it on the pith 
side and pinching it so that the outer part of the rind, which ori- 
ginally was convex, now becomes concave in form; the oil then 
escaping from the fractured cells is received into a piece of sponge 
held in contact with the rind by the fingers of the left hand. Each 
segment is well pinched three or four times, the workman always 
avoiding to squeeze any fragments of fruit adhering to the rind. 
When the sponge is saturated with liquid the contents are squeezed 
out into an earthenware bowl of about three pints capacity ; the 
oil floating to the surface is afterwards decanted. The yield varies 
from 9 to 14 ozs. from 400 fruits operated upon. The fragments 
of rind and fruit are then pressed to extract the lemon-juice, and 
the remnant is afterwards distilled to obtain the residual oil. 

The “ Ecuelle-a-piquer,” which is in use at Mentone and Nice, 
consists of a saucer-shaped vessel, about 20 centimetres diameter, 
made of tinned copper. All over the bottom of this vessel are 
numerous strong sharp spikes, projecting about | centimetre; in 
the centre of the hollow or lowest part of the cavity of this vessel 
is an orifice about 2 centimetres diameter, leading into a tube or 
hollow handle of about 12 centimetres in length. The workman 
then places a fruit in the tool, and by a rapid rotatory motion of 
the hand causes the oil-vessels of the rind to be pierced by the 
spikes. The escaping oil flows into the hollow handle. When the 
handle is full, the contents are emptied into another vessel to 
clarify. A further small quantity of oil is obtained by immersing 
the scarified fruit in warm water, and decanting the supernatant 

F2 


68 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


oil. An inferior oil is sometimes obtained by roughly rasping the 
surface of fruit which has undergone the écuelle operation, and 
sometimes by rasping fresh fruit, and distilling the result with 
water, which yields an oil very inferior in perfume and in value ; 
it is called “ Essence distillée,” to distinguish it from the above, 
which is called “ Essence au Zeste.” Although the distilled oil 
is still considered inferior, experiments made in London by Moss* 
by distilling peel from fresh lemons, the cellular tissue of which 
was torn to free the oil, resulted in a product which was con- 
sidered equal to or finer than the Italian oil made by the cold 
process. (Its specific gravity was estimated by Dr. Tilden at °852 
at 20°C.) This experiment led him to believe that the inferior 
fragrance of foreign distilled oils was partially attributable to 
the construction of the stills. Products distilled on a large 
scale are undoubtedly affected in quality by the form of the 
still and the method of manipulating it ; but probably in the ex- 
periment made by Moss every lemon was carefully peeled by hand, 
and no trace of acid juice of unripe fruit allowed to enter the still. 

A sort of écuelle on a larger scale, capable of operating on six or 
eight fruit at a time, or about 7000 per day, is used for extracting 
Bergamotte oil. It consists of a metal vase perforated with small 


holes at the bottom, and is provided with a heavy rotatory lid- 


communicating by cog-wheels witha handle. There is a channelled 
groove round the inner circumference, for the reception of the 
fruit; the inner surface of the lid and the groove are fitted with 
short metallic blades projecting about 15 millimetres. The rapid 
rotation of the lid, which presses on the fruit, causes them to 
revolve and become lacerated at all points, and the liberated oil 
flows through the perforated bottom into a receiver. Oil thus 
obtained is greener than formerly obtained by the éponge process. 

An apparatus called the Strizzatore termo-pneumatico (thermo- 
pneumatic extractor) was invented by Dominico Monfalcone for 
the extraction of oils from all varieties of Citrus fruits—the 
advantages stated by the inventor being that from a given weight 
of fruit double the quantity of oil is obtainable than by the older 
method of the éponge, also the economy of an immense deal of 
time and labour. The product is said to be equal in quality to 
that obtained by mechanical means alone. The apparatus is 
described as follows :—A is a hollow cylinder of sheet iron, the 


* Pharm. Journ, 20th March, 1879, 


ite 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 69 


interior surface of which is studded with a large number of 
metallic knife-points. This cylinder revolves on two axles attached 


Fig. 6. 


to it at diagonally opposite points. Its capacity is such that when 
charged, as indicated in the illustration, it is capable of holding 
1200 or 1500 lemons. The cylinder having been properly charged, 
say with the above-mentioned number of lemons, together with a 
small quantity of water, it is set in motion by aid of the shafting 
and pulleys driven by the small steam-engine. The fruits are 
thereby made to come in contact with the metallic lancets, 
and their whole surface gradually becomes punctured sufficiently 
to cut or rupture the cells containing the essential oil, which 
escapes. The cylinder A has double walls, the space between them 
being intended for the circulation of a current of steam, which is 
admitted to heat the water and to facilitate the extraction of the 
oil, while at the same time the vapours are rarefied or aspirated by 
the vacuum-pump L. The axles of the cylinder on both sides are 
hollow : that on the side looking towards the engine is imbedded 
in such a manner that steam from the boiler may be admitted 
at will either into the double walls of the cylinder or into the 
interior of the cylinder itself; while the hollow passage in the other 
axle communicates with a condensing-worm, the outlet of which 
(H) descends into a cylindrical vessel I, intended to receive the 
condensed products, consisting of water and essential oil. When 


70 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


the apparatus is first set in motion, the pump L begins to produce 
a vacuum during the first revolutions of the cylinder. Steam 
being now cautiously admitted into the double walls of the 
cylinder, the water is raised to boilimg at a comparatively low 
temperature, and the vapours charged with the essential oil rapidly 
pass over into the receptacle. With a 2-horse power engine and a 
boiler designed for a 5-horse power engine, five such apparatus may 
be driven at once, and the operation, including the time required for 
charging and emptying, is completed in three-quarters of an hour. 

The expressed oil of lemon contains mucilage, which is apt to 
ferment and produce cloudiness. It has been suggested by 
Dr. Bond that this can be washed out by agitating the oil with 
water in the proportion of 2 ozs. of water to 1 lb. of oil, by which 
the mucilaginous matter is removed and sinks to the bottom with 
the water. The oil can then be decanted and dried. 

Essential oils prepared by distillation with water often retain 
some of that liquid, even when they appear quite clear. The 
water may be detected by mixing the oil with several times its 
volume of petroleum-ether (the so-called benzin), whereby a 
turbidity is produced owing to the separation of globules of water. 

Oil of lemon is very apt to oxidize and resinify by contact with 
air, developing a turpentine odour, which quite unfits it for use as 
a perfume. This change can be retarded by keeping it in full 
well-stoppered bottles in a dark cool place ; also by mixing the oil 
with an equal bulk of alcohol or by pouring a little alcohol on the 
surface of the oil, which prevents its contact with air. 

It is said that oils of lemon, lavender, and others, which tend to 
resinify and acquire a terebinthinous odour, may be kept imde- 
finitely by the addition of sodium bisulphite in the proportion of 
50 grains of the salt to each pound of oil. 

Most of the commercial oil of lemon is adulterated with the cheap 
distilled oil and with oil of turpentine. 

Oil of lemons has recently been examined by Oliveri*, who 
fractionated it by distillation into three portions,—the first boiling 
between 170° and 175°°5 C., the second between 176° and 178°, 
and the third between 240° and 242°. The first was a colourless 
mobile liquid, sp. gr. 0°8867, with a very pure lemon oil odour, 
and consisted of limonen, C,,H,,, forming the characteristic cry- 
stalline tetrabromide, C,)H,,Br,, melting at 31°, and a dihydro- 
chloride, C;,H,gCl,, melting at 50°. The second fraction, amounting 


* Pharm. Journ. 27th June, 1891, p. 1172. 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 71 


to nine tenths of the whole distillate, had a sp. gr. of 0°899, and in 
respect to its formula and molecular weight was identical with 
limonen, but the rhomboid crystals of the tetrabromide melted 
first at 102° to 103°. The principal constituent of the third 
fraction was the sesquiterpene, C,;H.,, which is present in old oils 
in far larger proportion than in new oils ; it has a sp. gr. of 0°9847, 
and does not form a crystalline tetrabromide or dihydrochloride. 
The first two fractions are optically active, but the third is inactive. 
According to Oliveri* the rotatory power of oil of lemon in a 
column 20 centimetres long varies with age between +117° and 
+ 123°, and it is suggested that this character might be utilized 
to detect an adulteration with oil of turpentine. Investigations 
made by Schimmel and Co. indicate the sp. gr. of expressed oil of 
lemon to be 0°857 to 0°863 at 15° C., and the rotatory power in a 
100-millim. tube + 40° 10’ to +62°; the sp. gr. of the distilled 
oil being found 0°856, and the rotation of same +66° 20’. It 
would appear that slight variations in the conditions under which 
oil of lemon is prepared are apt to cause considerable differences 
in the physical properties of the oil, and that a reliable commercial 
oil of uniform strength and free solubility in rectified spirit would 
be of great advantage. 

A so-called ‘‘Terpene-free” oil of lemon has been prepared during 
the last ten years at Pirna-on-the-Elbe. Experiments recently made 
on this oil show that it more readily becomes altered in flavour by 
keeping and by exposure than when mixed in its natural state with 
its own terpene f. 

In various essential oils of the Citrine series Messrs. Schimmel 
and Co. have discovered an aldehyde called citral, C,)H,,O, to 
which is ascribed the aroma. According to their researches, 
normal oil of lemon contains 7} per cent. of citral; but it is 
admitted that, “as it lacks some part of the freshness which cha- 
racterizes good oil of lemon, it should be used mixed with the 
natural product. A mixture of 1 kilo of oil of lemon and 
75 grammes of citral will be equal in strength and aroma to 
2 kilos of oil of lemon (7.e. 75 grammes of citral possess the 
strength of aroma of 1 kilo of oil of lemon).” { In a partial 


* Apot. Zeit. 1891, p. 341. + Ph. J. [8] xxii. p. 876. 

} One ounce of citral in 15 ozs. of 95 per cent. alcohol is considered equivalent 
to 16 ozs. of lemon-oil. Even in liquids containing only 30 per cent. alcohol 
citral forms a clear solution. 


72 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


vacuum under a pressure of 16 millim. Citral boils at 116° C., and 
under normal atmospheric pressure at 228° to 229° C. without 
decomposition, if quite pure. At 15° C. its sp. gr. is 0°899. 
Semmiler ascertained * that the aldehyde C,)H,,O, obtained by the 
oxidation of geraniol with chromic-acid mixture, is identical with 
citral. According to Poleck + the fluid constituent of otto of roses 
is an alcohol, C,)H,,O, which by oxidizing agents is converted into 
the aldehyde citral, obtainable from geraniol by similar treatment. 
Messrs. Schimmel have ascertained the presence of citral in the 
following essential oils :—Citrus limonum, Citrus limetta, Citrus 
Madurensis, Andropogon citratus, Eucalyptus Staigeriana, Back- 
hausia citriodora, Tetranthera citratus, and Xanthoxylum piperitum. 

The Lime is the Citrus limetta, which grows wild in many 
tropical countries, but does not flourish even so far north as the 
Azores. It is found wild and cultivated in Jamaica, Dominica, 
and Tahiti; but the most important plantations are those esta- 
blished on the island of Montserrat, considered the most beautiful 
of the Antilles, situated in 16° 45’ N. lat. and 61° W. long. This 
island is only about eight miles in length from north to south, by 
a breadth of five miles from east to west, and is composed of a 
small cluster of volcanic mountain-tops rising out of the Caribbean 
Sea to the height of 3000 feet. The high mountains, whose steep 
sides are covered with virgin forests, seem to protect Montserrat 
from the hurricanes which desolate the neighbouring islands ; and 
the forests ensure a rainfall when the other islands are parched 
with drought. The temperature of Montserrat is remarkably 
uniform, the thermometer at night seldom falling below 69°, or 
rising even at mid-day above 90° F., with an average of 78° to 80°. 
The average rainfall is 54 to 64 inches a year. 

The Lime is a thorny, bushy evergreen tree, with handsome 
dark green leaves. ‘The leaves are so fragrant that they are uni- 
versally used in the West Indies to perfume the water in the 
finger-glasses at dessert. The small white flowers resemble orange- 
blossoms, and their scent is equally delicious. The very extensive 
plantations are owned by an English Company, which was formed 
for the main purpose of extracting the juice from the fruit ; but a 
very fine essential‘oil is also obtained from the rinds of the fruit 
im the same way ‘as the kindred ottos of orange, lemon, and 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. 1890, xxiii. p. 8556, and 1891, xxiv. p. 205. 
T Ibid. 1890, xxiii. p. 3554. 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. Vo 


bergamot, viz. by rasping the unripe fruits by rubbing them over 
a perforated concave metal rasp fixed over a basin, squeezing the 
pulp thus obtained, and purifying by filtration the oil which 
exudes. Thus obtained, it has the peculiar sweet sharp odour 
characteristic of the fruit, and very superior as regards delicacy of 
fragrance to the oil obtained by distillation. The flowers yield a 
“neroli,” and the leaves and young twigs a “ petit grain” oil by 
distillation. 

The Lime harvest is heaviest from September to January, but 
the Montserrat plantations yield a considerable return all the year 
round. The trees require regular pruning, and to be freed from 
the mistletoe and other mischievous parasites, so that their culti- 
vation during the years that elapse before they come into bearing 
involves a considerable outlay. Plants raised from seed come into 
full bearing in seven years. The Lime flourishes best in a light 
soil near the sea: 

The physical qualities and properties of oil of limes have been 
carefully studied by Watts*. Huis investigations show that “ pure 
‘écuelled’? or hand-made oil is of a decidedly yellow colour, 
varying in intensity, being darker in new specimens. ‘The sp. gr. 
also varies, being higher in newer samples,—the mean sp. gr. of 
seven samples, all under twelve months old, being 0°8734; the 
distilled oil of same age being 0°8554. LEcuelled oil may be 
regarded as an almost saturated solution of citroptene or lime- 
camphor, and this may be made a means of distinguishing it from 
the distilled oil. The difference in flavour and aroma, however, is 
so marked as to scarcely require any other means of distinguishing 
écuelled from distilled oil, the former having a decided and fragrant 
lemon-like smell, whilst the latter frequently possesses little more 
than the smeli of turpentine. The distilled oil is usually almost 
colourless, is specifically lighter, and contains no citroptene. When 
the citroptene is treated with oxidizing agents, nitric-acid or 
chromic-acid mixture, a red resinous acid body is produced ; so, if 
a sample of oil of limes be agitated with .chromic-acid mixture for 
some few minutes, and the mixture filtered, the red resin will be 
left on the filter and sides of the test-tube if the oil be hand-made, 
but will not appear if a distilled oil.” 

As regards the production of oil of limes at Trinidad, the Director 
of the Botanic Gardens at that place stated+, in answer to an 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] xv. p. 322. + Ibid. xiv. p. 1005, 


yf: ODOROGRAPHIA. 


enquiry from the Pharmaceutical Society, to the following effect :— 
The finest limes in the West Indies are grown at Trinidad, on 
trees quite unequalled for size and exuberance by those of any part 
of the Western tropics. Their odour more resembles that of 
lemons produced in Europe than of the limes produced there. The 
young shoots and all tender parts of these Trinidad limes have 
the odour of Aloysia citriodora (the lemon-scented verbena), the 
stronger lime-odour being developed in the older parts. In the 
treatment of the fruit for obtaining the oil, the more rapid the 
process the more pronounced is the lemon odour in the result, if 
perfectly fresh fruits are used. The strong flavour of limes, more 
or less tinged with that of turpentine, seems to be a result of 
treating stale or decomposed fruit-tissue. The plan adopted on 
economic grounds at Dominica and elsewhere, of crushing the 
limes as received from day to day, and then, on the attainment of 
a large quantity of pulp, proceeding to distil, seems completely 
preventive of a fine flavour in the resulting oil. The sp. gr. of the 
Trinidad oil was found to be 0°8741 and the boiling-point 177°°7 C. 
It is soluble in five parts of alcohol of sp. gr. 0°838, as is ordinary 
oil of limes. Commercial oil of lemon is barely soluble in 15 parts 
of the same menstruum. 

The Shaddock is the Citrus decumanum, a distinct species, re- 
markable for the large size of all its parts. It is a native of China 
and Japan, and owes its name to Captain Shaddock, who introduced 
it into the West Indies. Its fruit is spheroidal and greenish 
yellow, the pulp red or white, the juice sweet or acid, the rind is 
thick, fungous, and bitter. Thunberg says the fruit in Japan grows 
to the size ofa child’s head, and Dr. Sickler states its weight at 14 lbs. 

The “ Mandarine,” or Maltese orange, is the Citrus nobilis, a 
very small orange of flattened shape, with a thin rind which 
separates spontaneously from the pulp; so that when quite ripe 
the latter may be shaken about inside. The perfume of the 
flowers, leaves, and rind is delicately soft, and the taste of the 
pulp very sweet. In China, where this delicious variety has been 
raised, the fruit is generally presented to the Mandarins, hence its 
name. It is now successfully cultivated in Malta and the Azores, 
and essential oils obtained from it are quoted by manufacturers. 
In 1857 the oil was not obtainable on the London Market ; but 
its properties were carefully studied by de Luca, who obtained 
specimens of the fruit, expressed the oil, and communicated the 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 75 


results of his investigation to the French Academy of Sciences *. 
An abstract of these results, from unquestionably pure oil, may 
here be worth repeating. He says :—‘“ The essence of mandarine, 
prepared by expression, has a light golden-yellow tint; it is very 
limpid and extremely mobile; its odour is very sweet and different 
from that of citron or orange; it boils and distils exactly at 178° C. 
(352°-4. F.), almost without leaving any residue, in which, however, 
is found asmall quantity of yellow colouring-matter. The distilled 
product is colourless, endowed with the same odour and taste as 
the crude essence. Its density at 10° C. (50° F.) is 0°852; the 
same density was found with the first portions distilled, with the 
last, and with average samples. The density of the same essence, 
determined at a previous period and with another sample, was 
0°8517 at the temperature of 12° C. (57°°6 F.). The essence does 
not appear to contain oxygen. It is soluble in about ten times its 
volume of alcohol. 

The Bergamot orange is yielded by the Citrus bergamia, a 
small tree whose leaves and flowers much resemble in appearance 
those of the Bitter orange. 

It is stated in a small work, “ Le Parfumeur Francois, par le 
Sieur Barbe, parfumeur, 1693,” that oil of bergamot is extracted 
from the fruit of a lemon which has been grafted on a bergamot 
pear. The name of the latter is derived from the Turkish Beg- 
adrmidt, the “prince of pears.” Volkamer, in his ‘ Hesperides 
Norimbergenses,’ 1713, further describes limon bergamotta as 
“gloria imonum et fructus inter omnes nobilissimus,” and men- 
tions that the Italians prepare one of the finest essences from it. 
The name is derived from this fact, and is in no way connected 
with the town of Bergamo in Lombardy as some writers on per- 
fumery assert. It is not even cultivated in that district. 

The Bergamot is cultivated at Reggio and the adjacent villages 
on low-lying lands near the sea, being frequently grown amongst 
orange and lemon trees. The oil is extracted from fully-developed 
but unripe fruits, they bemg more or less green. They are 
gathered in the months of November and December, the amount 
of oil obtained beg from 45 to 60 grammes from 3 kilogrammes 
of fruit. The colour of the oil is a pale yellowish green, due 
to traces of chlorophyl, which is proved by the spectroscope. 


* Comptes Rendus, 25 Noy., 1857. 


76 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Its boiling-point varies from 183° to 195°. This oil is syste- 
matically adulterated on a large scale, and is rarely sent into the 
market pure. The adulterants are oil of turpentine, petroleum, 
essential oil obtained from the leaves, an inferior oil distilled 
from the residue of the fruit which has passed through the 
écuelle process, oil of sweet orange, and oil of lemon. 

The admixture of oil of orange and of oil of lemon at once 
lowers the sp. gr., and augments the optical activity, as will be 
seen by the following figures :— 


Average sp. gr. Optical rotation in 
at 15° C. 100 mm. tube. 
Pure oil of Bergamot, expressed. 0°881 to0°888 
ti ee ariel GbE } Melisa oe 
Pureoil of Sweet Orange,distilled 0°849to0°855 +97°-4to +97°°32 
Pure oil of Lemon, expressed . 0°857t00°863 +40°1to +62° 
55 ss distilled. . 0°856 +66°°2 


One part of pure oil of bergamot forms a clear solution at 20° C. 
with half a part of 90 per cent. (vol.) alcohol, and is not rendered 
turbid by the further addition of alcohol of the same strength ; 
whereas the oils of sweet orange and lemon do not form clear 
solutions under those conditions. The addition of turpentine 
would of course decrease the solubility in alcohol. Additions of 
alcohol or petroleum would lower the sp. gr. 

Additions of fatty oils are recognized by the higher sp. gr. of 
the specimens, and by the residue which they leave when volatilized 
at 100° C. If about half a drachm of oil of bergamot is warmed 
on a watch-glass to 100° C., until the odour has completely dis- 
appeared, there is left behind a green homogeneous residue of 
ointment-like consistency, which in genuine oil amounts to about 
6 per cent. In the presence of fatty oil the residue on volatilization 
is increased, and has a different consistency ; it presents the ap- 
pearance of a green thick layer on the inner surface of the glass 
with a supernatant oily yellow liquid. Upon the data of these 
experiments, the sp. gr. of oil of bergamot should not be under 
0°873, and the optical rotation (in 100 mm.) not over +20. The 
oil must be clearly soluble in 4 part 90 °/, (vol.) alcohol, and the 
solution should not become turbid on the further addition of 
alcohol of equal strength. The residue on volatilization should be 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 77 


a green homogeneous mass, and not exceed six per cent. (except 
in very recent specimens) *. 

According to recent researches of Schimmel and Co.+, the most 
important constituent of bergamot oil (to the extent of 40 per cent.) 
is the acetic ester of Linalool, a body which is also contained in 
oil of lavender (which see). Linalool, discovered by Semmler ff, 
forms the principal constituent of Mexican Linaloe oil (which see). 

The crystalline constituent of Bergamot oil, Bergapten, C,.H;O,, 
has recently been studied by Pomeranz§. Its melting-point is 
188° C. 

The odour of Bergamot has been noticed in the chloride of 
sylvestrene :— 

Sylvestrene.—Stockholm tar and Archangel tar are obtained in 
the North of Europe by the dry distillation of fir-wood (Pinus 
sylvestris and P. Ledebourii), and these are the source of both 
Swedish and Russian turpentine. The former was found by 
Atterberg to contain both australene and sylvestrene, which are 
stated by Tilden || to be also present in Russian turpentine, while 
Wallach has observed the occurrence of Dipentene in addition to 
these. 

Sylvestrene, Cj)H,., boils at 173-175°, and smells like fresh 
fir-wood. The chloride is formed by passing hydrochloric acid 
into its ethereal solution, and yields the pure hydrocarbon on 
heating with aniline, or, better, with sodium acetate and glacial 


* Schimmel and Co., Report, April 1891. 

To determine the solubility of an oil in alcohol, 2 ¢. c. of it are placed in a 
stoppered bottle, and the alcohol is gradually added from a burette, the mixture 
being well shaken after each addition. The termination of the experiment is 
known by the liquid becoming clear. A suspected sample being now similarly 
treated, it will be found that if turpentine be present a larger proportion of 
alcohol will be required. It must be borne in mind that some other oils, such 
as those of juniper, savin, eucalyptus, and copaiba, are but slightly soluble in 
dilute alcohol, and that they may, when mixed with other oils, give rise to 
appearances similar to those produced by oil of turpentine. Moreover, in some 
cases, changes take place in oils which have been kept for a long time, and these 
must be considered in applying the alcohol test for turpentine. A test for 
alcohol in essential oils is the red coloration produced, if alcohol be present, 
when a drop of the oil is let fall on a crystal of “ magenta.” To some oils, such 
as clove, however, this test does not apply. 

t Tbid. April 1892. t Ber. Deutsche chem, Ges. 1891, xxiv. p. 207. 

§ Monatshefte fiir Chemie, 1891, p. 379. 

|| Journ. Chem, Soc. xxxiii, p. 80. 


78 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


acetic acid. In the pure condition it boils at 175-178°, and 
smells like oal of bergamot. The addition of a drop of concentrated 
sulphuric acid or fuming nitric acid to its solution in glacial acetic 
acid or acetic anhydride produces a splendid deep-blue coloration. 
It is dextrorotatory, and combines with the hydracids to form 
compounds from which it can be separated unaltered *. 

The fruit of Havenia dulcis is eaten in China and Japan ; its 
taste is said to resemble that of the Bergamot pear. 


In the Southern States of America the orange, the lemon, and 
the lime are extensively cultivated ; im Florida they grow wild and 
are found in great abundance, but on many very large tracts of 
land they are calewated! In Louisiana and Mississippi they are 
grown from seed. The seeds are planted early in spring, or in 
hot-beds in January ; when one year old they are transplanted in 
a nursery; at the age of two and a half years they are budded 
with fully-matured buds from bearing trees of the sweet orange 
(the seedlings being the sour variety). This renders the tree 
more hardy, seedlings of the sweet orange having been found 
subject to a root-disease called “heel,” which does not attack 
seedlings of the sour orange. At the age of four years the trees 
are transplanted into orchards. At the age of six, flowers first 
appear, and at ten years the trees are called full bearers. Orange- 
trees were introduced into the States in 1816. 

The cultivation of the Citrus fruits in Louisiana is confined to 
the Sweet orange (C. aurantium), and is restricted to the lowest 
parishes of the delta and of the Gulf Coast east of Vermillion Bay. 
In the parish of Plaquemine, the chief site of the orange orchards, 
groves from 10 to 200 acres in extent are found, yielding large 
incomes. The quality of the Louisiana or Creole orange is of the 
highest order. The crop produced in the State is scarcely sufficient 
to supply the demands of the home market. The Lemon (C. 
limonum) is raised only in a few sheltered localities on the coast. 

A writer in the ‘American Journal of Pharmacy’ states that 
the humidity of the atmosphere materially affects the flowers— 
when too wet the pollen heads are injured and the secretions are 
imperfect ; extreme dryness has a similar effect on the pollen, but 
does not affect the secretion of oil. When the temperature is low 
but few flowers are fructified. The most favourable temperature 


* Ann, Chem. Pharm. ccxxx. p. 240; ccxxxix. p. 24. 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 79 


is about 68° to 78° F. Under 60° F. the flowers are blighted. 
An ordinary tree in America is said to yield from 2 to 10 lbs. of 
flowers, generally about 7 lbs. ; they are often collected on canvas 
cloths spread under the trees. The most fragrant flowers are 
those which fall in the early morning. Orange-flowers produced 
in the extreme southern borders are believed to possess a stronger 
odour and more oil; the difference is accounted for in this 
manner :—“ In the tropics the trees do not begin to bear very 
much until about twenty years old, while in this country they 
begin at about seven; the development is more rapid, the tree 
more vigorous, and it is reasonable to suppose a better development 
of odour in the flower.’? The writer in the Journal above referred 
to states that “the flowers are more fragrant, and the fruit more 
juicy, but not so sweet as in some other countries ;” further, that 
“ collected flowers placed in the direct sunlight lose all their odour 
in the course of two days, in diffused daylight they retain it for at 
least three days, and, in a dark humid atmosphere, the odour is 
quite distinct after one week. When bruised they lose their odour 
in half the time stated. The flowers hermetically sealed up in 
tin canisters are known to have retained their odour unimpaired 
for nine months.” 


All the sorts of Citrus may be propagated by seeds, cuttings, 
layers, and grafting. The object of raismmg plants from seed is 
either to obtain new varieties or stocks for grafting. Shaddock 
stocks are the strongest, and next to these the citron. At Genoa 
and Florence citrus trees are grown in a strong yellow clay, which 
is richly manured, a soil which is considered by the first Italian 
gardeners as the most suitable. For growing citrus trees in boxes, 
the French gardeners recommend a fresh lozm containing a third 
of clay, a third of sand, and a third of vegetable matter, which has 
lain a long while in a heap. An equal bulk of half-rotten cow- 
dung to be then added and the whole allowed to remain till the 
next year, when it is to be twice turned over. The succeeding 
year it is to be mixed with one half its bulk of decomposed horse- 
dung, and turned over two or three times. The winter before 
using it is to be further enriched with a twelfth part of sheep-dung, 
a twentieth of pigeon-dung, and a twentieth of dried night-soil. 

The compost recommended by Henderson, an English culti- 
vator, consists of one part of light brown mould from ground that 


80 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


has not been cropped or manured for many years, one part of peat- 
earth such as is used for growing heaths, one part of rotted hot- 
bed dung, and one part of rotted leaves of trees, mixed well together. 

Though orange-trees grow exceedingly well in large boxes in a 
conservatory, yet to produce the finest crop of fruit they should 
be planted in the ground against the back wall of a narrow house, 
and treated like peach-trees. In this way they may be propagated 
quickest from cuttings of strong young shoots or pieces of two- 
year-old wood from 10 inches to 2 feet in length, covering with a 
hand-glass and giving a gentle bottom heat. They will strike in 
seven weeks or two months. The citron is the most easily struck 
and the freest grower. Budding and grafting seedlings or cuttings 
grown in England under glass or in warm climates in the open air 
may be performed at any time when the sap is in motion. Trees 
raised from seed and grafted in England are found to bear the 
cold better than imported trees. 

Gallesio, in his ‘ Traité du genre Citrus,’ has given a synopsis 
of the forty principal sorts cultivated in Italy. In the ‘ Histoire 
Naturelle des Orangers,’ by Risso, of Nice, and Poiteau, of Ver- 
sailles, 169 sorts are described, and 105 of them figured ; they 
detail 4.2 sorts of sweet orange, 32 sorts of bitter and sour orange, 
5 bergamots, 8 limes, 6 shaddocks, 46 lemons, 17 citrons, and 12 
other sorts. A great number of hybrids produced by accidental 
cross-fertilization are known, and details of very curious hybrids 
produced experimentally are described by Gallesio in his ‘ Storia 
della Riproduzione Vegetale’ (Pisa, 1816). 

The essential oils of each variety of Citrus vary in perfume, and 
the products of the flower, leaf, and fruit of the same tree varies. 
The oil distilled from the fresh flowers, termed Neroli or Oleum 
Neroli, is much esteemed for its delicate perfume. Oil of Neroli 
being so valuable when pure, and so difficult to obtain pure, the 
following extracts, from so high an authority as Flickiger and 
Hanbury’s ‘ Histoire des Drogues,’ may be translated with ad- 
vantage :—“‘ The Neroli of Citrus aurantium, var. Bigaradier, is 
slightly brown in colour, bitter in taste, and neutral to litmus. 
The specific gravity of a pure sample obtained from Mr. Warrick, 
of Nice, was found to be 0°889 at 11°C. Mixed with alcohol it 
presents a brilliant violet fluorescence, quite distinct from the blue 
fluorescence of a solution of quinine. This phenomenon is very 
evident when a little spirit of wine is poured on the surface of the 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 81 


oil, and the liquid gently agitated so as to cause a slight undulatory 
movement. (Fluorescence was noticed by de Luca in rectified oil 
of Mandarine, either pure or dissolved in spirit, but he did not 
observe the phenomenon in the crude or unrectified oil, attributing 
its absence to the yellow colouring-matter *.) Neroli agitated with 
a saturated solution of sodium bisulphite assumes a very pure, 
intense, and permanent crimson tint. Examined in a tube of 100 
millim., it deviated the polarized ray 6 degrees to the right. The 
greater part distilled at 185° C., and the portion distilling at 195° 
being still colourless, of the same odour as the original oil, and 
still manifesting in a marked manner the violet inflorescence. The 
portion remaining in the retort was then mixed with rather more 
than its volume of 90 °/, alcohol, and the addition of a few drops 
of water caused no turbidity. A small quantity of crystallized 
Neroli camphor was seen floating on the surface of the liquid, 
which was obtained pure by redissolution in boiling alcohol. No 
camphor could be extracted from the rectified oil. Neroli camphor 
is neutral, inodorous, insipid, fusible at 55° C., and assumes a 
crystalline form on cooling from its solution in hot alcohol. The 
quantity of this product found in the sample was small, being only 
1 decigramme from 60 grammes of oil. The proportion of cam- 
phor in Neroli diminishes with the age of the oil.”? (The observers 
were unable to discover any substance of this nature in the oils of 
Petit-grain, of orange-peel, or of bergamot peel.) 

The great variations in the prices quoted for Neroli mdicate a 
great diversity of quality. The commercial oil is rarely pure, 
being adulterated with oil distilled from the leaves, and with a less 
odorous Neroli distilled from the sweet ‘ Portugal” orange. 
Common oil of Neroli often consists of 3 oil of Petit-grain (from 
the leaves), 4 oil of Bergamot rind, and 4 genuine Neroli. 

The usual time for beginning the collection of the orange-flower 
crop in the south of France is the last week in April, and the 
gathering lasts about a month or five weeks. The quantity gathered 
is at first rather small, but gradually increases, and after May 10 
reaches its full proportion. One of the principal centres of this 
industry is Vallaurie, the name being apparently derived from 
Vallum aurantii or its Provencal equivalent. There are fifteen 
distilleries of orange-flower in this town. The crop is said to 


* Comptes Rendus, Nov. 25, 1857. 


82 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


average a million kilogrammes (about 1000 tons). The yield of 
Neroli varies with the season when the flowers are collected. Those 
gathered at the beginning barely produce half a gramme to the 
kilo, while near the end of May they afford one gramme or more. 
The buds are picked when on the point of opening, by women, 
hoys, and girls, who make use of a tripod ladder to reach them. 
These villagers carry the flowers to an agent, who weighs them and 
spreads them out in a cool place, where they remain until 1 or 
2a.m.; then he puts them into sacks and delivers them at the 
factory before the sun has risen. ‘They are then taken in hand at 
once. On exceptional days as many as 160 tons are so treated in 
the whole province. At the factory the flowers are spread out on 
the stone floor of the receiving-room, in a layer some 6 or 8 inches 
deep. The sepals are then separated by girls, and such of the 
petals as are destined for the production of orange-flower water 
and Neroli are put into a still through a large canvas shoot, and 
are covered with water, which is measured by the filling of reser- 
voirs on the same floor. The man-hole of the still is then closed, 
and the contents are brought to boiling-poimt by the passage of 
superheated steam through the coils of a surrounding worm. The 
water and oil pass over, are condensed, and fall into a florentine re- 
ceiver, the oil floating on the surface thereof and the water flowing 
through the bent tube from below. A piece of wood or cork is 
placed in the receiver to break the force of the stream flowing 
from the condenser. This gives time for the small globules of 
oil to cohere and prevent them being carried away by the down- 
ward current. The first portions of the water coming from the 
still are put mto large tinned-copper vats holding about 500 
gallons, and there stored, to be drawn off as occasion may require 
into glass carboys or tinned-copper bottles. 

After the flowerimg-season, or about the end of June, the 
farmers prune their trees; these prunings are carted to the fac- 
tory, where the leaves are separated and distilled, the product 
being “oil of petit-grain.” During the autumn the ground round 
about the trees is well weeded, dug about, and manured, for the 
old practice of planting violets under the orange-trees is being 
abandoned. ‘The orange-trees produce a second crop of flowers in 
autumn, sometimes of sufficient importance to allow of their 
being taken to the factories, but always in request for the 
bouquet market. Late in the year those blossoms which escaped 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 83 


collection in the spring have developed into fruits. These, 
when destined for the production of the oil, are picked while 
green. 

The Nerolis of the various Citri differ in odour from each 
other, and do not represent the true perfume of the flowers 
from which they are severally extracted, by reason of partial 
decomposition, modification or oxidation caused by heat, contact 
with water and hot aqueous vapour during the process of distilla- 
tion ; a finer perfume than Neroli being obtained by the process 
of maceration in pure warm grease. The same observations apply 
to the perfume of the rose. This process and that of absorption 
or “ enfleurage a froid ” are described in a previous chapter. 

The oil of “ Petit-grain ” above referred to was mentioned as 
far back as 1692 by Pomet in his ‘ Histoire des Drogues’; it was 
then distilled from the small unripe fruit about the size of a 
cherry, which fall from the tree shortly after the flowers ; they 
are called “orangettes.”” The name “ petit-grain,” or small seed, 
indicates this origin of the term. At present the oil of petit- 
grain is also made on a large scale from the leaves and young 
shoots of both the Bitter and the Sweet orange, the former being 
much more odorous than the latter, and worth twice the price. The 
leaves are gathered in districts of the Mediterranean where there 
are large plantations of Citrons. Citrons are generally grafted on 
to orange-stocks (seedling orange-trees), and these stocks during 
the summer put forth shoots which are allowed to attain the 
length of a few feet; they are then pruned off, tied up in bundles, 
and sent to the distiller. The strongest shoots are frequently 
reserved to make walking-sticks. The leaves of the Bitter orange 
are at once distinguishable from those of the Sweet by the odour 
given off on crushing them between the fingers. The oil of 
petit-grain is much used in perfumery, especially in the manu- 
facture of Hau-de-Cologne. 

Both the Bitter and the Sweet orange are abundant in Jamaica ; 
the oils are obtained by distillation, and, on an average, 580 oranges 
will weigh 180 lbs., and yield 12 ozs. of oil. The Government 
Chemist at Kingston kindly supplied me with samples of both oils, 
which, although very fine for distilled products, are not equal in 
fragrance to those obtained by the cold process in Europe. 

“ Orange-Flower Water.’—Referring to the fact that Neroli 

G2 


84. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


does not represent the true odour of the orange-flower, and that 
the watery distillate which comes over with the oil is identical in 
perfume with the blossom, Soubiran is of opinion that Neroli is a 
modified isomer of the natural oil of the flower, and not so soluble 
in water as the unaltered portion of the latter which remains 
dissolved in it. In confirmation of this view, he states that 
by agitating the watery distillate with ether and then leaving 
the decanted ether to spontaneous evaporation, a small quantity 
of an oil possessing absolutely the same perfume as the 
flower remains, which is capable of being easily re-dissolved in 
water *. 

In Paris, orange-flower water “ double” is made by distilling 
the flowers of the Bitter orange with water and drawing over 
double the weight of the flower put into the still; the “single” 
orange-flower water being simply the addition to the “double ” 
of an equal volume of distilled water. The preparation known 
commercially as “ orange-flower water quadruple,” as made in the 
South of France, is a distillate equal in weight to the weight of the 
flower put into the stiil (Soubiran). This indicates that the finest 
or the largest part of the essence comes over first. 

According to Xavier Landerer, orange-flower water is distilled 
in large quantities in the Island of Chios; it is known in Greece 
as ‘‘Anthoneron,” and is sophisticated with “ Mythoneron,” 
which is a water distilled from the small and highly aromatic 
leaves. The Jews of Thessalonica add to this “ Mythoneron” some 
drops of oil of neroli and some salt, and then bring it into the 
market as “ Anthoneron.” It is sold by retailers and travelling 
merchants in small straw-covered flasks resembling those used for 
salad oil, but their necks are twice as long. 

Orange-flower pommade is prepared in the same way as rose 
pommade by “ maceration,” or, more properly speaking, digestion 
of the flowers in warm inodorous grease or oil. The exquisitely 
fragrant “ orange-flower extract ” is made by washing the pommade 
or oil with modorous spirit, which absorbs the fragrant molecules. 
This extract is quite distinct in perfume from the solution of 
Neroli in rectified spirit. 

Dried Orange-peel.—Vhe finest quality of the dried Bitter orange- 
peel of commerce comes from Barbados and Curagao, under the 


* ¢Traité de Pharmacie,’ p. 654. 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 85 


name of “Curacao des Les” and “Curacao de Hollande.” The 
first, which is derived from unripe fruits, appears in the form of 
thick, hard solid sections, of a strong, persistent pleasant odour 
and bitter taste. The second description is derived from ripe 
fruits from which the white pith has been removed in Holland, 
and is in the form of extremely thin yellowish-red rinds, externally 
wrinkled and very aromatic. The dried rind is also exported 
from Italy and Provence, made either from the small young green 
fruit or from the more mature yellow fruit, but from both of 
which the inner white pith has not been removed. All of these 
descriptions of rinds are used for the manufacture of Curacao 
liqueur, alcoholic tinctures, and for flavouring syrups. 

The “Curacao” liqueur is made in Holland, mainly from the 
orange-peel imported from the island of Curacao, and it is named 
after the island as a sort of guarantee of its quality, for un- 
deniably the finest orange-peel in the world comes from there. It 
is said that this island produces the bitterest of bitter oranges 
with the oiliest of rinds, also the sweetest of sweet oranges with 
the finest flavoured fruit, but the soil cannot be persuaded or 
forced into growing sour fruit. Lemons and limes planted there 
turn sweet and die. Immense quantities of bitter orange-peel are 
shipped from there every year, nearly all to Holland. In Amster- 
dam there is a regular orange-peel market, where saucers full of 
peels are set out as samples on long tables, and testers go among 
them selectmg for purchase. Such experience have these men 
that they can tell by simply breaking and smelling a bit of peel 
what part of the tropical world it comes from, and that from 
Curacao always commands a higher price than any other. 

The bark and all the tender parts of the Amyris acuminata, on 
being bruised or wounded, discharge a pale whey-coloured fluid, 
which possesses a fragrance something like that of the orange- 
leaf*. 

Flowers of somewhat similar odour to orange-blossom are pro- 
duced by the Philadelphus coronarius, known as the Syringa or 
Mock orange, a shrub which is somewhat common in England, 
and quite distinct from the genus Citrus. The perfume of the 
Gardenia citriodora and of the Cytisus laburnum is also considered 
of this type. 


* Roxb. FI. Ind. ii. p. 246, 


86 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Orange-blossoms (called by the Chinese “ Chang-hwa ”’) are used 
in the tea-factories of Canton for scenting the tea known as Orange 
Pekoe ; they are gathered when fully expanded. The petals, when 
separated from the stamens, are mixed with the tea, which is appa- 
rently perfectly dry and finished, in the proportion of about 40 lbs. 
of flowers to 100 lbs. of tea. The dry tea and undried flowers are 
allowed to le mixed together for a space of twenty-four: hours ; 
the flowers are then sifted and winnowed out, but sometimes a few 
stray leaves are left, and may be detected in the tea even after it 
arrives in England. The moisture which the tea has acquired 
from the flowers is expelled by placing the tea over slow charcoal 
fires, in baskets and sieves prepared for the purpose. The scent 
communicated by the flowers is very slight for some time, but, 
like the scent peculiar to the tea-leaf itself, comes out after being 
packed for a week or two. The peculiar volatile oil to which the 
fragrance of unscented tea is due does not appear to exist in the 
leaf in its green state, but to be formed by a slight fermentation 
which takes place in the leaf during the process of curing. Some- 
times the scenting process is repeated when the bouquet is not 
considered sufficiently strong; indeed, it is sometimes scented 
twice with orange-flowers and once with Jasminum Sambac (“ Mo- 
le-hwa’’). Other flowers are similarly used by the Chinése, such 
as the Aglaia odorata, called “ Lan-hwa” or “ Yu-chu-lan,” the 
proportion of the flowers to the tea being equal. The flowers of Jas- 
minum paniculatum, “ Sieu-hing,” are frequently mixed with those 
of Jasminum Sambac, in the proportion of 10 lbs. of the former to 
30 lbs. of the latter, and the 40 lbs. thus produced are sufficient 
for 100 lbs. of tea, but when J. Sambac is used alone, 50 lbs. of 
flowers are required for 100 lbs. of tea. The Olea fragrans, “ Qui- 
hwa,” is used chiefly in the northern districts as a scent for a rare 
and expensive kind of Hyson-pekoe, a tea which forms a most 
delicious beverage, the proportion of flower used being very large ; 
but the tea scented with this flower will only keep well for one 
year, at the end of two years it has either become scentless or has 
a peculiar oily odour which is disagreeable. Teas scented with 
orange-blossom and with those of the J. Sambac will keep well for 
two or three years, and with the J. paniculatum for three or four 
years. The Aglaia retains the scent longer than any, and will 
preserve well for five or six years. ‘The other flowers used by the 
Chinese for this purpose are the Gardenia florida, “ Pak-sema- 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 87 


hwa,” and (for their own use) the petals of a rose, “ Tsing moi- 
qui-hwa.” It has been frequently stated that the flowers of 
Chloranthus inconspicuus are used for scenting tea, but this has 
long been disproved by Fortune, a botanist who resided in China 
and studied the genus Chloranthus, one species of which, C. For- 
tunei, was specifically named after him. 

Some flowers, such as those of the Aglaia, after being sifted out 
from the tea, are dried and used in the manufacture of the frag- 
rant “ Jos-stick,” which is much used as an incense in the religious 
ceremonies of the country. 

The fruit of the Evodia fraxinifolia yields by distillation about 
4 per cent. of a thin fluid essential oil of a very pale yellow colour, 
and exceedingly agreeable and intense odour, similar to bergamot ; 
so intense is the perfume that it is able to overcome the smell of 
iodoform, even when used in the very small proportion of two 
drops to the ounce. The sp. gr. of the oil is very low, not 
exceeding 0°840 ; it is soluble in alcohol and ether *. A descrip- 
tion of Hvodia fraxinifolia was first published under the name of 
Rhus fraxinifolium in Don’s ¢ Prodromus Flore Nepalensis,’ 1825. 
The plant is described as a large tree, a native of Nepal. Sir 
William Hooker, however, subsequently poimted out that the 
floral characters did not agree with those of the genus Rhus. 
In the ‘Icones Plantarum’ 1848, plate 170, it is referred to 
Blume’s Philagonia, and a good figure accompanies the letterpress. 
The plant is placed under the natural order Terebinthacee, and 
a reference is given to Tetradium (?) fraxinifolium, of Wallich, in 
Herb. Hook. 1821. In the recent work, Hooker and Bentham’s 
‘Genera Plantarum,’ this species is included in the genus Evodia, 
under the natural order Rutacee, and it is identified with the 
Tetradium trichotomum described in Loureiro’s ‘ Flora Cochin- 
chinensis,’ p. 91, which is there mentioned as having trichotomous 
racemes of whitish flowers ; the tree is of medium size, and inhabits 
the hills of Cochinchina fF. 


* Helbing, in a paper read before the Pharmaceutical Conference, August 
1887. 
+ Christy’s ‘New Commercial Plants,’ no, 10. 


58 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


CITRONELLA. 


Oil of Citronella is derived from the Andropogon Nardus of 
Linnzus, which is figured in Bentley and Trimen’s ‘ Medicinal 
Plants,’ tab. 297. Synonyms :— 

A. flecuosus and A. coloratus, Nees. 
A. Martini, Thwaites *. 
Cymbopogon Nardus, Linn. + 

The plant is known under many common names, such as 
Ganjni-ka-ghas, Hind.; Kamd-Khér, Beng., &c. 

In Rimmel’s Report of the Products exhibited at the 1862 
Exhibition, he wrongly assigns Citronella to A. citratus, and he is 
wrong in his names of three out of four of the grasses. 

This grass is very common in the plains of the Punjab and 
North-west Provinces ; it is extensively cultivated in Ceylon and 
at Singapore for the manufacture of the oil from its leaves, and it 
is abundant at Travancore. As cultivated in Ceylon on Winter’s 
Estate near Galle, it often attains a height of 6 or 8 feet; oil 
from this estate is considered as fine or finer than that from 
Singapore. In Ceylon the Citronella is raised from seed, and 
planted like “ Guinea-grass”’; it yields two or three crops a 
year f. 

The principal plantations are in the Malara district, where 
about 16,000 acres are planted with Citronella grass, which 
flourishes upon the poor ground. ‘The total area devoted to its 
cultivation in Ceylon is estimated at from 25,000 to 30,000 acres ; 
principally in the southern provinces. The ‘Ceylon Mercantile 
Planting Directory’ states the total number of distillatory appara- 
tus to be 467. ‘The distillation seems generally to be effected by 
the farmers. The total export of oil in 1890 was 14,559,075 
ounces ; that of 1891 is estimated at 15,000,000 ounces. 

Citronella grass is distinguished from other species by its peculiar 
reddish tint, short spikes, and narrow leaves. The pure oil is thin, 
almost colourless or of a pale greenish-yellow tint, and strongly 
aromatic. It is to this oil that the well-known odour of honey- 
soap is due. Very interesting details of recent researches in the 


* Encycl. Ceylon Plants, p. 561. 
+ Pharmacopeeia of India. 
1 ‘Tropical Agriculturalist, iii. p. 58. 


THE CITRINE ODOURS. 89 


chemistry of Citronella are described by Dodge *; mention being 
also made of Professor Fliickiger’s discovery of the peculiar pro- 
perty possessed by this oil (and that of A. cétratus) of solidifying, 
with evolution of heat, when shaken for ten minutes with a 
saturated solution of sodium bisulphite. 

The investigations of Kremers + show that citronelle-oil consists 
of an aldehyde, C7H,,O, a terpene, C,)H,,, an isomer of borneol 
named citronellol, and acetic and valerianic acids. These two 
acids are said to be formed through the oxidation of the alde- 
hyde, and to exist originally in combination with citronellol as a 
compound ether. The composition of the aldehyde, as ascertained 
by Kremers, does not agree with the results arrived at by Dodge f, 
who assigned to it the formula C,,H,,O, and found its boiling-point 
to be between 217° and 222°. This aldehyde has also been found 
in oil of Hucalyptus maculata, var. citriodora. 

It is well known to the trade that Citronella is largely adul- 
terated with kerosene, immense quantities of which are imported 
into Ceylon in great excess of the requirements for illuminating 
purposes. 

The test recommended ‘to discover this is that one part of the 
oil should give a clear solution with ten parts of 80-per-cent. 
alcohol when shaken vigorously. In the presence of 10 per cent. 
of petroleum or kerosene the mixture becomes milky. An addition 
of a fixed oil is still more perceptible, as little as 1 or 2 per 
cent. being recognizable, but the mixture becomes turbid rather 
than milky. The sp. gr. of the oil should not be below 0895 at 
15° C. (Schimmel). 


Lemon-Grass. 

Oil of Lemon-grass.—This is derived from the Andropogon 
citratus of DeCandolle ; syn. A. Schenanthus, Wallich§. The 
vernacular names Gandha-bené (Bengal) and Malutrinukung- 
bhustrinung (Sanskrit) are by Roxburgh given to a plant he 
describes as A. Schenanthus, Linn.; this description may be refer- 
able to A. citratus, De C., but it seems to agree equally well with 


* ¢ American Journal of Chemistry,’ xi. p. 456. 

+ Proc. Am. Pharm. Assoc. 1887, and Am. Chem. Journ. xiv. p. 204 (Mar. 
1892). 

¢ Am. Chem. Journ. xi. p. 458. 

§ Plant. As. Rar. iii. tab. 280. 


90 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


A, Laniger of Desfontaines. It is a large coarse, glaucous grass 
found under cultivation in various islands of the Eastern Archi- 
pelago, in the Island of Jamaica, and in gardens over an extensive 
tract of country in India. It very rarely flowers, but Dr. Dymock 
of Bombay states that he has seen it in flower more than once. 
It is largely cultivated in Ceylon and Singapore for the odoriferous 
oil distilled from the leaves, which is called Lemon-grass, Verbena- 
oil, or Indian Melissa-oil. The oil is employed in Europe as 
an ingredient in perfumes, very considerable quantities being used 
in the manufacture of Eau-de-Cologne. It is also used for adul- 
terating the so-called “ true verbena-oil” from the Lippia citrio- 
dora, a plant cultivated in Spain, also called Aloysia citriodora, 
but it certainly is not a verbena at all. The Ceylon oil 
of Lemon-grass is manufactured entirely by the natives. Oil of 
Lemon-grass is said to be called ‘‘ Minjak sereh” in Java, but that 
word may be applied to the oil of Tetranthera citrata, a Javanese 
plant of similar odour. This “ verbena ” odour is also developed 
in Eucalyptus Staigeriana, Eucalyptus maculata, var. citriodora, 
and Backhousia citriodora, Australian plants from which oils are 
distilled. It is also noticeable im the leaves and green twigs of the 
Trinidad lime (Citrus limetta). Oil of Hucalyptus Staigeriana 
has a sp. gr. of 0°880, and boils from 170° to 230°. Oil of Back- 
housia citriodora has a sp. gr. of 0°900, and boils from 223° to 
233°C. Both these oils are distinguished by an intense odour of 
lemon and verbena. The oil of the former contains a considerable 
quantity of a terpene, whilst that of the latter appears to consist 
principally of an aldehyde (C,,H,,O?). There is probably a great 
future for this oil (Schimmel). Backhousia citriodora is a shrubby 
Myrtaceous tree of 20 to 30 feet in height, very common in 
Queensland. 


JASMINE. 91 


CHAPTER: TV: 


JASMINE, JONQUIL, AND HYACINTH. 


JASMINE. 


Axsovut 100 species of Jasmine are known, mostly natives of 
India, Arabia, and the tropieal regions of the Old World, there 
being only one or two South-American species. Linnzeus obtained 
a fancied etymology from va, “a violet,” and oom, “ smell,” but 
the odour of its flowers bears no resemblance to that of the violet ; 
it is, in fact, so peculiar as to be incomparable, and is probably 
almost the only floral perfume which cannot be imitated by art, 
i.e. by carefully blending other perfumes. The species most 
commonly known in this country is Jasminum officinale, L., the 
Common Jasmine. Its native habitat is not known, although it has 
been found wild in the South of Europe and several parts of India ; 
neither is the date of its introduction on record, but it has long 
been inured to our climate so as to thrive and flower well. To 
produce a good crop, it should be pruned in the autumn, as the 
flowers only form on the young shoots. It may easily be propagated 
by cuttings or layers. There are golden- and silver-edged leaf 
varieties, and a double-flowered variety. The flowerimg-time is 
from June to October. The perfume is far less powerful than when 
grown in a hot climate; this, and nearly all varieties of Jasmine, 
love the sun and flourish in the hottest parts of the earth. 

The Jasminum Sambac, Aiton, is a native of Arabia (where it is 
known as Ysmyn Zambak), but is found wild in many parts of 
India, birds eating the berries and dropping some of the seeds, 
which germinate. The seeds are only produced in hot countries. 
This plant is a climber, with white flowers, which, on account of 
their exquisite fragrance, are highly esteemed in the Hast. The 
perfume, although powerful, is said to refresh instead of oppress 
the head, as most strong perfumes do. 


92 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


There are in all four varieties of this species—the single, double, 
great double, and ¢rifoliatum. The common double still retains 
its twining habit, but the branches of the great double variety are 
erect or spreading. Flowers of one of the double varieties, known 
in India as “ Moogree,’’ are used as votive offermgs in religious 
ceremonies. The J. Sambac, var. trifoliatum, which in India is 
called the Kudda-Mulla, differs from the other varieties of Sambac 
in many points; its flowers are almost constantly solitary, the 
calyx is divided into a greater number of segments, and the leaves, 
instead of beg regularly opposite, almost constantly grow three 
together at the extremities of the flowering branches, and in other 
parts indifferently—singly, opposite, or ternate. The perfume of 
the flowers is very powerful; this is called the “ Tuscan” Jasmine, 
as it was first imported from India by the Grand Duke of Tuscany 
about the year 1691. The bloom of this plant is much admired 
by females in India, who, in the evening of the day, string it into 
chaplets and necklaces. The flowers of both single and double 
varieties bloom throughout the greater part of the year. The use 
of the flowers for perfuming tea in China is described in the 
chapter on Citrine odours. 

J. odoratissimum is a native of Madeira ; its flowers are yellow, 
and have the advantage of retaining when dry their natural 
perfume, which is suggestive of a mixture of jasmine, jonquil, 
and orange-blossom. J. azonicum is also a native of the island 
of Madeira, and has long been cultivated in greenhouses in 
England, where, under favourable circumstances, it will continue 
to produce its fragrant white flowers nearly through the whole 
year. 

The use of J. paniculatum for scenting tea is described above. 
It is a native of China, with white flowers. 

The J. hirsutum, a native of China and India, is a very beautiful 
shrub. The large white flowers are very fragrant. The leaves 
and stem are hairy, as its name indicates ; the degree of pubescence 
varies very much according to the age, the leaves especially being 
much more hairy while young than in adult plants. It is a native 
of China and Bengal. The dark green foliage, which is very abun- 
dant, covers whatever it grows against nearly as closely as ivy, 
and forms a remarkable contrast to the snow-white blossom. The 
flowers are sometimes nearly thirty in a bunch, showing in about 
August and continuing to be produced for several months. The 


JASMINE. 93 


flower is exceedingly fragrant, and does not turn purple in decay 
as does the Arabian Jasmine, nor is it so fugacious. 

The Jasminum revolutum was imported from China in 1814; its 
flowers are yellow, prolific, and very fragrant. 

J. grandiflorum is very like J. officinale, but the branches are 
shorter and stouter, the flowers very much larger and reddish 
underneath; they form at the extremities of the branches, and 
are abundant during summer and part of autumn; they are per- 
sistent, and sometimes, after drying on the plant, they will re-open. 
This is the Spanish or Catalonian Jasmine ; it grows wild on the 
island of Tobago. By grafting it on to a two-year old plant of 
J. officinale an erect bush about 3 or 4 feet high can be cultivated, 
and so pruned as to require no supports. As generally grown in 
the South of France, the plant is reared from cuttings of the 
J. officinale, which are put into the earth in rows and trenched. 
Level ground is chosen ; if hill-side only is available, this is formed 
into a series of terraces. When strong enough, the young stem is 
grafted with shoots of the J. grandiflorum. The first year it is 
allowed to run wild. The second year the long slender branches 
are trained along light poles supported horizontally and running 
the whole length of the rows, the branches being twined and 
interlaced between them. At the approach of winter the plants 
are banked up with earth to half their height. The exposed parts 
then die off. When the last frost of winter is passed the earth is 
removed, and what remains of the plant is trimmed up for the 
coming season. It forms rapid growth, and when necessary water 
is supplied to the roots by means of the trenches above mentioned. 
The blossoms, which are the size of a shilling and intensely 
fragrant, are produced from July to the middle of October, but 
those of August and September yield the greatest amount of odour. 
The flowers are gathered as soon as possible after they open ; this 
occurs in the evening, and up to about August 15, early enough 
for the blossoms to be gathered the same day. They are delivered 
at the factories at once, where they are immediately put on to the 
glass “ chassis,” to be treated by the cold process of “enfleurage;” 
the work on them continuing very often till long after midnight. To 
obtain a good result, fifty successive enflowerings of the pommade 
are necessary. Later on in the year they are gathered in the early 
morning, directly the dew is off. The flower is gathered without 
any green part, as the corollas are monopetalous and the tube is 


94 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


but very lightly joined to the placenta. The picking is continued 
for perfumery purposes up to October 15; after that date the 
flowers are lacking in fragrance. It is said that an acre of land 
will yield about 500 Ibs. of blossom during the season. 

An essential oil is distilled from jasmine in Tunis and Algeria. 
Exhibition specimens of oils of Jasmine have been sent from Cal- 
eutta to Lucknow, but they were probably fixed oils, 2. e. made by 
digesting the flowers in an oil expressed from seeds or nuts; the 
oils perfumed with J. hirsutum and J. Sambac were labelled 
“ Motia-ka-utter” and “ Bella-ka-utter;” that from J. grandi- 
florum was called “ Chamelé-ka-utter ;”’ all these were contami- 
nated with the odour of santal. 

Syrup of jasmine is made by placing im a jar alternate layers of 
the flowers and sugar, covering the whole with wet cloths and 
standing it in a cool place. The perfume is absorbed by the sugar, 
which is converted into a very palatable syrup. 

The true perfume of jasmine, as represented by any of its 
varieties, is unique—not exhaled by any other flower or exactly 
reproducible by any combination of natural products or chemical 
compounds. There are a few flowers whose perfume bears a 
remote resemblance to it, also one chemically-prepared compound, 
hereafter described. An essential oil with a fragrance which has 
been compared to it was obtained by Gleim* from the fresh 
berries of the Benzoin odoriferum, Nees, syn. Laurus Benzoin, a 
deciduous shrub inhabiting damp shady woods m North America. 
It is a bush of 8 or 10 feet high, with oblong or elliptic wedge- 
shaped leaves, and bears clusters of small yellow flowers on naked 
umbels, appearing before the leaves. By distillmg 8 troy ozs. of 
the fresh berries with water, 4 fluid drachms of a colourless vola- 
tile oil were obtained, having a sp. gr. of 0°87, of very fragrant 
odour resembling somewhat that of jasmine. 

The compound known in chemistry as “secondary styrolyl 
acetate” is said to have a pleasant odour resembling that of jas- 
mine ; the method of its formation is as follows :— 

Ethylbenzene, C,H; .C.H;, is formed when ethylene is passed 
into a heated mixture of benzene and aluminium chloride 7, and in 
small quantities when benzene is heated to 100° C. with ethyl ether 


* Amer, Journ. Pharm. [4] v. p. 246. 
+ Bull. Soc. Chim. xxxi. p. 540. 


JONQUIL. 95 


and zine chloride*. It is also obtained by heating toluene with 
aluminium chloride in an open vessel +. Ethylbenzene is a liquid 
possessing a smell like that of toluene; it boils at 136°5 C., and 
has a sp. gr. of 0°8664 at 22°°5. It is oxidized to benzoic acid 
by dilute nitric acid or chromic acid. 

Secondary styrolyl bromide, C;H;.CHBr .CH;, is obtained by 
the action of bromine on boiling ethylbenzene t. By subjecting 
this bromide to the action of silver acetate and glacial acetic acid, 
secondary styrolylacetate is formed, C;H,.CH(O.CO .CH;)CH,. 
This liquid has a pleasant odour resembling that of jasmine ; it 
boils at 217°-220°, at which temperature it is partially resolved 
into styrolene and acetic acid. 


JONQUIL. 


Narcissus Jonquilla, li, a bulbous plant probably of oriental 
origin. The name of the species in Italian (Giunchiglia) is derived 
from the nearly cylindrical leaves, grooved on the upper side, 
recalling those of a species of Juncus. 

At the plantations around Grasse the bulbs of this plant are set 
out inrows. The blooms, which are of a fine bright yellow, appear 
about the end of March, four or five on each stem. Each flower 
as it blooms is picked off at the calyx. The harvesting period is 
of very short duration, and it very often happens that it takes two 
seasons for the manufacturer to finish off his pommade of extra 
strength. The crop is also very uncertain, being abundant one 
year and scanty the next. ‘The exquisite perfume is extracted by 
the processes of maceration and enfleurage—chiefly the latter. It 
seems that a comparatively small acreage is under cultivation, and 
that bulbous plants do not receive much attention in France, owing 
no doubt to the great care required for their successful cultivation ; 
otherwise there are many bulbs producing flowers of exquisite 
fragrance which might be advantageously grown. In Holland, 
where flowers are more rare than in the Riviera, and where flori- 
culturists are more patient, such plants receive their due care, but 
not for the purpose of extracting their perfume. 


* Bull. Soc. Chim. xxxii. p. 618. 
t+ Compt. Rend. ci. p. 1218. 
} Bull. Soc. Chim. x. p. 343. 


96 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


JACINTHE OR HYACINTH. 


This plant does not appear to be commercially grown for per- 
fumery purposes, the extracts sold under its name being com- 
pounded from the extracts of other flowers or prepared artificially 
by the processes next described. 

The delicate perfume of hyacinths is ethereal, suggestive of 
organic ethers. There are many ethers and synthetically prepared 
compounds resembling the odours of flowers, but some of them 
are also suggestive of ‘‘ chemicals,” the products being crudely 
manufactured or insufficiently purified from minute traces of 
chemicals employed in their fabrication. All synthetical products, 
especially those in which chlorine is employed in the process, 
should therefore be thoroughly purified from all remnants of adhe- 
rent reagents employed. 

It has been known to chemists for many years that an oil 
obtained by the oxidation of turpentine resembles the perfume of 
hyacinths, but it is only recently that this oil has been produced 
commercially for use in perfumery. 

For the production of this oil it is necessary first to prepare 
Terpine-hydrate, C,H 2O2+H,0, known in modern chemical 
language as Dipentenylene glycol. Hight volumes of oil of turpen- 
tine are mixed with two volumes of nitric acid, sp. gr. 1:25-1°30, 
and one to six volumes of alcohol. The mixture is shaken fre- 
quently during the first few days and then left to itself in shallow 
vessels for several weeks. Brown crystals are thereby formed, 
which must be pressed and then re-crystallized from boiling water 
with addition of animal charcoal. 

Another process recommended by Hempel* says :—“ Right 
parts of oil of turpentine are mixed with two parts of alcohol and 
two parts of nitric acid, sp. gr. 1-25-1°30, in flat basins. After a 
few days the mother-liquor is poured off from the crystals which 
have already separated, and is neutralized with an alkali, after 
which treatment another crop of crystals separates out t. The 
preparation only succeeds at the cool seasons of the year, as in 
summer a resinous mass is usually obtained f. 


* Ann, Chem. Pharm. xxx. p. 71. 
+ Wallach, Ann, Chem. Pharm. cexxvii. p. 284. 
t Ibid. cexxx. p. 248. 


Ne 


HYACINTH. 97 


According to Tilden, one volume of nitric acid, sp. gr. 1:4, is 
mixed with one volume of strong alcohol * and two and a half 
vols. of pure rectified oil of turpentine (French or American), is 
allowed to stand for two days until the smell of turpentine has 
disappeared, and then poured into flat dishes, small quantities of 
alcohol being gradually added to it at intervals of two days. 
About one third of the oil of turpentine is thus converted into the 
terpine hydrate, and a still larger yield may be obtained by con- 
tinuing the operation. 

Terpine hydrate crystallizes in large, transparent, monosym- 
metric prisms which dissolve in 200 parts of cold and 22 parts of 
boiling water, and are still more readily solub!e in alcohol. 

Wiggers, by the action of hydriodic acid on terpine hydrate 
(Dipentenylene glycol) obtained the compound 2C,)H,,+H,O, 
which was investigated by List and named ferpinol +. It is also 
formed when terpine hydrate is boiled or distilled with very dilute 
hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, potassium sulphate, &c., also when 
hydrochlorate of terebenthene is boiled with water, alcohol, or 
alcoholic potash. It is a colourless, strongly refractive oil, which 
boils at 168°, slightly soluble in water, and optically inactive; its 
sp. gr. is 0°852. It has a pleasant odour of hyacinths, especially 
when diluted. By boiling, it suffers partial decomposition, in 
such a manner that the first part of the distillate contains less 
oxygen than the latter portion. 

Tilden found that the above reaction yields a mixture of a ter- 
pene with a compound C,)H,,O, for which he retained the name 
terpinol t. It is shown, by the researches of Professor Wallach §, 
that terpinol is not a simple body, but a mixture in variable pro- 
portions of Terpinol, Terpinene, Terpinolene, and Dipentene ; or, 
rather, that when terpine hydrate is boiled with dilute sulphuric 
acid, or phosphoric acid, the product varies according to the con- 
ditions of the experiment, but the principal constituent is Terpineol, 
which is an alcohol (Dipentenyl alcohol) of the composition 
C,)H,,OH, this name being substituted for “ terpinol” in order to 


* Tt is stated in Jahresb. Chem. 1878, p. 638, that Tilden used methy] alcohol, 
while he actually employed “ methylated spirit.” 

t+ Ann. Chem. Pharm. Ixvii. p. 367, 

t Journ. Chem. Soc. xxxiii. p. 247; xxxv. p. 287. 

§ Annalen der Chimie, ccxxx. p. 251. 


98 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


correspond with “borneol” and “cineol.” It is formed by simple 
elimination of water from the terpine hydrate. 

In order to prepare ¢erpineol, 25 grms. of terpine hydrate are 
boiled with 50 cubic centimetres of aqueous phosphoric acid. It 
is a colourless, very thick liquid, boiling between 215°-218°, and 
is optically inactive. Its sp. gr. at 15° C. is 0°940, and at 20° 
0:935. Bouchardat and Voiry * produced it by heating terpine 
hydrate with very dilute sulphuric acid. It was also probably 
obtained by Deville as a by-product in the preparation of terpine 
hydrate +; it also appears to occur in oil of cardamom from 
Ceylon (Elletaria major). 

The high boiling-point of Terpineol (Dipentenyl alcohol) 
speaks for its unusual resistance to heat, and permits, for perfu- 
mery purposes, of its being used in the manufacture of toilet soaps 
by the warm process. It is readily soluble in vaselin. 

It is further adapted to this use by reason of the property it 
possesses of not being attacked or decomposed by alkalies, such as 
soda or potash. Observations extending over months have shown 
that the odour remains unaffected even in soaps made strongly 
alkaline. These experiments regarding its adaptability to soap 
were made by Schimmel and Co., who recommend, for the pro- 
duction of an extraordinarily fine Lilac perfume, 10 or 12 ozs. of 
Turpineol to 100 lbs. of soap, with the addition of Heliotropin 
(Piperonal), ylang-ylang oil, geranium oil, and East-Indian 
santal-wood oil. ‘The perfume of this soap very much improves 
after storing some time.” 

The odour of hyacinths is also produced artificially as follows :— 
The compound «-Phenylchlorethylene or Phenylvinylchloride was 
first obtained by Stenhouse in an impure condition by the distil- 
lation of cinnamic acid with bleaching-powder solution {. It is 
also formed by the action of sodium-carbonate solution on Phenyl- 
dichloropropionic acid, which is obtained by passing chlorine into 
a solution of cinnamic acid in carbon disulphide ; it crystallizes in 
lustrous plates which melt at 162°-164°, and are insoluble in 
water, but gradually decompose into carbon dioxide and a-phenyl- 


* Compt. Rend. civ. p. 996. 
+ Ann. Chem. Pharm. Ixxi. p. 351. 
} Ibid. ly. p. 3 and lvii. p. 79. 


HYACINTH. 99 


chlorethylene on boiling with water or on standing in the cold with 
sodium carbonate solution *. 

Also: a-Phenylbromethylene or phenylvinylbromide is formed 
when phenyldibromopropionic acid is boiled with water. In 
order to prepare this acid, cinnamic acid is dissolved in carbon 
disulphide and a solution of bromine in carbon disulphide gradu- 
ally added, the acid being thus precipitated. It forms small plates 
which readily dissolve in ether and melt at 195°. On boiling with 
water, phenylbromolactic acid, cinnamic acid, a#-phenylbrom- 
ethylene and carbon dioxide are formed. This decomposition is 
brought about by cold sodium-carbonate solution, but is delayed 
by an excess of this reagent. Phenylbromethylene is an oily 
liquid having a pleasant odour resembling that of hyacinths, as 
does also the phenylchlorethylene above described. The former 
boils at 219°-221° (a small quantity of hydrobromic acid being 
evolved) ; the latter compound boils at 199°+. The odour of 
hyacinths is also noticed intensely in a compound called cinny! 
alcohol, which is prepared from styracin (see Storax). Cinnyl 
alcohol, CyH,,O, was formerly called Styrone, Hydrate of cinnyl, 
Cinnamic alcohol, Styracone, and Storax alcohol. 

As indicated by Toel ¢, cinnyl alcohol is obtained by cautiously 
distilling styracin with a strong solution of caustic potash or soda. 
A milky liquid then passes over, from which, when saturated with 
common salt, a creamy substance separates, gradually collecting on 
the surface in an oily layer and solidifying. 

Wolff § dissolves styracin in boiling alcoholic potash, mixes 
water with the liquid, filters from potassium cinnamate, and 
separates the precipitated cinnamic alcohol from undecomposed 
styracin by distillation. Pure cinnyl alcohol forms beautiful soft, 
silky needles, having a sweet taste and an odour of hyacinths. 
It melts at 33° C., and volatilizes without alteration at 250°C. It 
is moderately soluble in water, very soluble in alcohol, in ether, in 
styrol, and in oils both fixed and volatile. 

It has recently been indicated that the chief constituent of the 
non-aldehydes in cassia-oil is the acetic ether of cinnamyl. It can 
be separated by submitting the non-aldehyde portion of cassia-oil 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xiv. p. 1867. 

+ Ann. Chem. Pharm. excy. p. 140, and cevi. p, 33. 
q° Hid! isexspa de 

§ Ibid. lxxxy. p. 299. 


100 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


to repeated fractional distillation in vacuo. The fraction boiling 
between 135° and 145° (at 11 mm. atmospheric pressure) has been 
found to consist entirely of this ether. The cinnamic alcohol 
obtained by saponification crystallizes from ether in white solid 
rystals. 

When rectified oil of cajeput, the fraction boiling between 174° 
and 178° C., which forms three-fourths of the crude oil and is 
cajuputene dihydrate, C,)H),+2H,0, is cohobated with phosphoric 
anhydride for half an hour and distilled, there passes over between 
160° and 165° the hydrocarbon Cajuputene, C,)H,., which is a 
colourless liquid possessing the odour of hyacinths ; it is insoluble 
in alcohol but soluble in ether and in oil of turpentine. Its sp. gr. 
at 15°C. is 0°850. It is permanent in the air. 

The perfume of hyacinth is also remarkable in Benzyl alcohol 
(Hydrate of Benzyl), C;H;0. Benzyl alcohol is formed by the 
action of sodium amalgam and water on benzaldehyde *, and on 
benzoic acid. Benzoyl chloride is also reduced to benzyl 
alcohol by the action of sodium amalgam and hydrochloric acid { ; 
it is also yielded in large quantity by adding sodium amalgam to 
an ethereal solution of benzamide which contains water and has 
been rendered faintly acid with hydrochloric acid §. It is most 
easily obtainable from benzyl chloride (which can readily be 
prepared from toluene) by boiling it for two hours with water and 
lead hydroxide ||, or by simply boiling it for two days with 25 to 
30 parts of water §. Mennier states ** it may be advantageously 
prepared by boiling equal parts of benzyl chloride and potassium 
carbonate with 10 parts of water for several hours. If 10 parts 
of benzaldehyde be shaken up with a solution of 9 parts of caustic 
potash in 6 parts of water until a permanent emulsion is obtained, 
and sufficient water to form a clear solution be then added to the 
semi-solid mass of crystals formed on standing by the separation 
of potassium benzoate, the benzyl alcohol can readily be extracted 
from the liquid with ether. The ether is then distilled off and the 
residue purified by rectification without being dried; 92 per cent. 
of the theoretical yield can thus be obtained. As only one half 


* Ann. Chem. Pharm. exxiv. p. 324. t Ibid. exxxii. p. 75. 
{ Ibid. cxxxvii. p. 252. 

§ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. vil. p. 1462. 

|| Ann. Chem. Pharm. exliii. p. 80. q Ibid. cxevi. p. 353. 
** Bull. Soc. Chim. xxxviii. p. 159. 


MIGNONETTE. 101 


of the benzaldehyde is converted into the alcohol, benzyl chloride 
is a more economical source; it is, however, more difficult to 
obtain in a state of purity than benzaldehyde, and therefore does 
not yield a pure product so readily. 

Benzyl alcohol can be prepared from Peru balsam as follows :— 
The balsam is agitated with 2 volumes of caustic potash of 
sp. gr. 1:2, the emulsion exhausted with ether, the extract 
separated and evaporated, and the residual oil heated with 4 
volumes of caustic potash of sp. gr. 1:3 until a homogeneous liquid 
is obtained. The pulpy mass of crystals formed on cooling is 
pressed in linen, and the liquid diluted with water and distilled 
until the distillate ceases to appear milky. The alcohol is then 
separated from the aqueous distillate, and the portion which 
remains dissolved in the latter extracted by ether *. 

Benzyl alcohol is a liquid which boils at 206°, and has a sp. gr. 
of 1:063 at 0°. It is slightly soluble in water, 100 parts of water 
at 17° dissolving 4 parts. 

Benzyl alcohol, C,H,0, is also obtained when a mixture of pure 
Benzaldehyde, C;H,O, with its own volume of absolute alcohol is 
mixed with 3 to 4 vols. alcoholic potash of sp. gr. 1°02, heat is 
evolved, and the whole solidifies to a crystalline magma. The 
potassium benzoate is washed out with hot water, the alcohol 
distilled off, the residue mixed with water till it begins to be 
turbid, and then shaken up with ether. The brown oily residue 
obtained by evaporating the ethereal solution is dried over fused 
potash and repeatedly rectified. It is believed to be identieal with 
Peruvin, which is obtained by the action of potash on cinnamein. 

Benzyl acetate can be obtained by distilling benzyl alcohol with 
acetic and sulphuric acids, also by heating benzyl chloride with 
potassium acetate and alcohol. It is a liquid which possesses an 
aromatic odour, boils at 206° and has a sp. gr. of 1°057 at 16°°5 +. 
Benzyl propionate and benzyl butyrate can also be prepared. 


THE MIGNONETTE, 


Reseda odorata, as usually grown in English gardens, is poor 
both in aspect and in perfume compared with the state to which it 
can be brought by careful cultivation. In the South of France it 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges, ii. p. 512. 
T Liebig’s Aun. exciii. p. 298. 


102 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


is largely grown for the perfume, which is extracted by the 
“ enfleurage ”’ process. The plant is delicate, and the crops often 
fail in consequence of late winds. The seeds are there sown in 
December and commence flowering in March. The flowers 
gathered in March and April yield the finest perfume. 

The Mignonette is a native of Egypt, and has also been found 
wild on the coast of Barbary. It does not appear to be longer 
lived in its native climate than in England, where advancing 
winter infallibly destroys it in the open air. It can, however, be 
grown in pots under glass, and reared as a perennial shrub by 
careful treatment and protection from frost; it is then called a 
“ tree-mignonette”’ and can be made to last for three years; a stick 
of about two feet long is inserted in the pot to which the plant is 
tied as it advances in height, the leaves being occasionally stripped 
from the lower part so that a stem may be formed to the height 
required. As soon as the seed-vessels begin to ripen they are cut 
off, and a fresh crop of blossom soon makes its appearance. <A 
very proliferous monster variety of mignonette appeared acci- 
dentally a few years ago amongst some seedlings in a Nursery 
at Hassock’s Gate, Sussex, from which cuttings were rooted and 
exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society. At that time it 
much resembled the ordinary kind, only the flowers were double, 
forming little balls of minutely frmged petals. By careful propa- 
gation the strain greatly improved, the spikes developing into 
panicles more than a foot in length, branching profusely to within 
a few inches of the apex with elegantly depressed branches having 
their apices ascending ; the whole covered with double and richly 
scented flowers. The proliferous character of this peculiar speci- 
men consisted in the fact that every branch arose out of the centre 
of an abortive flower and occupied the place of a pistil; occasion- 
ally two branches arising out of the same flower. In some cases 
a whorl of open but coherent carpels appeared, the branch origin- 
ating from the middle of that whorl. Each of the branches, 
especially the lower, may have lateral ones; these also in the same 
way rise out of the centres of similarly proliferous flowers. The 
plant could not seed, but was readily propagated by cuttings. 
This handsome variety was totally unlike any of the finest of the 
ordinary kinds of mignonette and was very richly perfumed. It 
was described by the Rev. G. Henslow at a meeting of the Linnean 
Society in December 1881, and figured in that Society’s Journal. 


TUBEREUSE. 103 


Perfumes somewhat analogous to Mignonette have been noticed 
in the flower of the vine and in that of “ Henna.” 


TUBEREUSE, 


Polianthes tuberosa, flor pleno, sometimes called Hyacinthus 
tuberosus and Hyacinthus Indicus, is believed to be a native of the 
temperate regions of Mexico. 

The tuberous bulbs are annually imported into England from 
Genoa and from North America in very large quantities and grown 
under glass for the sake of the fragrance of their white flowers 
(which is most powerful at night), but, even with the help of 
artificial heat, the flowers do not attain such perfection of perfume 
as in the South of France, where the plant is largely cultivated in 
the open air. 

In the district of Grasse the roots are planted in April, being 
set 9 or 12 inches apart, in rows 2 feet apart. The land selected 
should he deep rich soil, as the roots penetrate downwards to a 
considerable depth in search of moisture. If cultivated on a dry 
soil the plants require well watering and manuring. The stems 
will bear 10 or 12 flowers, and under good cultivation even more. 
Each flower as it blooms is picked off. The harvesting for the 
factories takes place about the first week in July and lasts to the 
middle of October. There is a yield of flowers after this time, but 
it is only of service to the florist, the fragrance not being developed 
in sufficient strength to be of use to the manufacturer. In 
November the roots are taken out of the ground and packed away 
in dry sand to guard them from humidity and cold. Propagation 
is effected by offsets, which are produced in quantity. 

The produce of flower in good years amounts to about 2500 
kilos. per hectare. The perfume is extracted by the cold process 
of “ enfleurage.” 


—emetnl 


104 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


CHAPTER V. 
THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. 


VIOLET. 


Viola odorata, Linn. A native im groves and hedges almost 
throughout the whole of Europe ; it is also found in Siberia, China, 
and Japan. 

There are nine distinct varieties of V. odorata, all finely 
scented :— 

Var. a. vulgaris (DeCandolle) ; flowers deep-purple or purp- 
lish-blue, pale and streaked in the mouth. The flowers 
of this plant impart their colour and flavour to aqueous 
liquors; a syrup made from the infusion has long been 
used as an agreeable and useful laxative for children. 
The infusion is also valued as a delicate test for the 
presence of uncombined acids or alkalies, the former 
changing its blue to a red; the latter to a green. 

Var. b. cerulea (Sweet) ; blue flowers. 

Var. c. purpureo-plena (Sweet) ; flowers double, purple. 

Var. d. ceruleo-plena (Sweet) ; flowers double, blue. 

Var. e. pallido-plena (Sweet); flowers double, pale blue. 
This variety is commonly called Neapolitan Violet. 

Var. f. alba (DeCandolle); flowers white. Very plentiful 
in Surrey. 

Var. g. albo-plena (Sweet) ; flowers double, white. 

Var. h. variegata (DeCandolle) ; flowers variegated. 

Var. 7. cornuta; all the petals horned. 

The habit of growth of all these varieties is trailing; other 
species are found of the same habit of growth and sweet-scented, 


THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. 105 


as the V. swavis, and amongst the 170 other species of Viola 
known some are scented; but those mainly cultivated for their 
perfume are the doubie purple and double blue varieties of 
V. odorata, the Neapolitan (pallido-plena), some hybrid varieties, 
‘** Russian,” &c., being grown for bouquets. 

On the shores of the Mediterranean the Violet is cultivated on 
a large scale, especially in the districts of Grasse and Cannes. 
They are planted out in October or April. October is preferred as 
it is the rainy season, and the young plants are not then exposed 
to the heat of the sun or to the drought, as they would be if starting 
hfe m April. The best place for them is in the olive-groves, 
where they are protected from the powerful rays of the sun in 
summer and from the extreme cold in winter. They are placed in 
long furrows and do not require watering except where the earth 
is extra dry. In September the ground must be broken up round 
them and manured. Specks of bloom appear among the plants 
during November ; their number increases daily, until by December 
the green is quite overshadowed, and the whole plantation appears 
one glorious hue, for the leaves of the plant having developed 
themselves sufficiently for its maintenance, now rest in their 
growth and are completely overtopped by the young buds they 
have protected, and which now shoot past them and bloom in the 
open. The flowers are picked twice a week ; they lose perfume if 
they are allowed to remain long on the plant, and are all gathered 
before the leaves start growing or would otherwise be completely 
covered in by the foliage. The flowers are gathered in the 
morning and delivered at the factories in the afternoon, where 
they are taken in hand at once, as they would lose considerably 
in perfume if held over till the next day. This explains why the 
Neapolitan violets or any other of the highly perfumed violets 
sent from the South of France to London do not seem more 
odoriferous than the same varieties grown in England. The 
variety known as “ Double Parma” gives a good result. 

The plant is somewhat delicate and the harvest is very subject 
to climatic influences, sometimes suffering to the extent of 75 per 
cent. The old plants are removed every five years and young roots 
substituted, planting them between the old rows, or spaces which 
were before vacant. 

The perfume is extracted by the cold process of “ enfleurage,” 


106 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


and subsequent solution in alcohol as an “extrait.” It is 
exceedingly fine, and rarely obtainable quite pure at the shops: 
the “ extrait de violette,” vended retail, being largely composed of 
tincture of orris-root, an odour approaching it, but almost as 
distantly as does that of the pelargonium to the rose. 


Orris Root. 


This is produced from three species of Iris :— 

1. The Iris germanica, Linn. This plant has large dark blue 
flowers, and is common in the environs of Florence and of Lucca. 
It is found in various places in Central’ and Southern Europe, in 
the North of India, and in Morocco. ‘This variety is the one 
mostly cultivated in gardens in temperate countries in Europe. 

2. Iris pallida, Lamarck. This resembles the germanica except 
in the colour of its flowers, which are more pale. It is found wild 
in calcareous soils in Istria. It is abundant in the environs of 
Florence and of Lucca, in the olive districts. 

3. Iris Florentina, Linn. This species bears large white flowers. 
It is a native of the coast of Macedonia and the south-west coasts 
of the Black Sea. It also grows in an indigenous state near the 
Gulf of Ismid and in the vicinity of Adalia in Asia Minor. It is 
also found in the environs of Florence and of Lucca, but in the 
opinion of Hanbury it is not indigenous but merely acclimatized 
to these two last situations. He is also of opinion that the three 
above-named species are clearly distinct, and gives hotanical 
reasons for that opinion * . 

As the bulk of the orris-root of commerce is derived from the 
I. germanica and I. pallida, and as the Iris Florentina is not a 
native of Florentine soil, the commercial term for distinguishing 
the best orris-root seems rather a mistake. The district may, and 
in fact does, produce finer roots than the district of Verona—hence 
the source of error in stating the root to be obtained from Jris 
Florentina and ignoring the two principal varieties. Formerly, 
commercial orris-root was supplied from the wild plant only, but 
during the last few years plantations have been established in the 
district of Verona ; and as the plants begin to yield after three 


* Hist. des Drogues, ii. p. 472. 


THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. 107 


years’ growth, the first crop will, it is expected, be available in 
1892. 

In Tuscany the cultivation, which until lately was restricted to 
asmall district in the neighbourhood of Pontasieve, near Florence, 
and at Arizzo, has been considerably enlarged since 1888. 

From Reggio, in Calabria, a further supply will be obtainable 
from new plantations laid down in 1890. Consequently the 
present high prices, caused by a bad crop and by the manipulations 
of speculators in Italy, may not maintain. 

The three species of Iris above-named are all known to the 
Tuscan peasants by the name “ Giaggiolo,” and when gathered 
from uncultivated plants the roots are taken indiscriminately, the 
greater part evidently consisting of J. germanica and J. pallida, 
which are the most common. They are usually dug up in the 
spring; the flags are cut back to within a few inches of the root, 
and another cut is made across the first tuberous formation ; this 
head part of the root with the clipped flag growing from it is then 
replaced in the ground, and soon starts a fresh growth, making 
offshoots and fresh roots. The remainder of the root is trimmed 
of its bark, cleaned, and dried in the sun. 

The fresh orris-root has simply an earthy smell. The character- 
istic odour, which is somewhat similar to that of violets, is after- 
wards gradually developed during the process of drying, and does 
not attain its maximum for at least two years, and even intensifies 
after that time. Its essential oil may therefore be included in 
the class of so-called “ ferment-oils.” 

Sometimes fresh roots are bleached by exposing them to the fumes 
of burning sulphur; this has a deleterious effect on the perfume. 

The roots are sorted out into several qualities, sizes, and sorts. 
Some of it is used for the manufacture of beads, and there is a 
market for the chips and turnings from this manufacture. The 
culture of this plant is extremely simple—it seems to thrive both 
in calcareous soil and in damp soil—and could undoubtedly be 
grown to advantage in many other places than those which now 
supply the market. 

Professor Fliickiger’s examination of the products of the root 
is as follows * :—When the dried root is submitted to distillation 
with water, there eventually comes over a crystalline odorous 
matter of yellowish-brown colour of the consistency of a firm 


* Archives der Pharmacie, June 1876. 


108 ODOROGRAPHIA,. 


ointment, which is termed “ butter of Iris,” and possessing the 
characteristic odour of orris. This product only amounts to a 
little more than ] per mille of the root used, and consists princi- 
pally of myristic acid, which is perfectly odourless, and a minute 
quantity of a brown essential oil to which the entire fragrance of 
the root is due—the proportion of this oil in the root is estimated 
at being possibly not more than 1 in 10,000. 

The myristic acid can be separated from the crude product 
(butter of Iris) by repeated crystallizations from alcohol and 
purification by animal charcoal. The obstinately adherent volatile 
oil is concentrated in the mother liquids, and the crystals become 
less and less odorous until finally they have lost all aroma. The 
pure crystals melt at 52° C., and their composition is represented 
by the formula C,,H.,0,—which is that of myristic acid. The 
effect of the presence of the smallest quantity of the adhering 
volatile oil, or a trace of Jauric acid melting at about 44°C., 
which may easily accompany the myristic acid, must be to lower 
the melting-point. The original details of the investigation contain 
the following annotation :— The question arises how the myristic 
acid, which can only with difficulty be distilled without decom- 
position, passes over with the oil. The explanation of this is to 
be sought in the phenomenon of diffusion. (Rose-oil is similarly 
accompanied by a stereoptene which is difficult to volatilize by 
itself.) An alcoholic solution of the pure crystals possessed no 
rotary power, and energetically reddened litmus paper moistened 
with alcohol. 

“The occurrence of myristic acid in the distillate is probably due 
to a fat which is present in the root, and is split up by the vapour 
of water. The quantity of this fat must be very small, since 
300 grams of orris-root powder exhausted with carben bisulphide 
gave a soft perfumed resin, but neither free myristic acid nor 
neutral fat could be detected. The carbon bisulphide extract was 
digested with sodium carbonate and alcohol, in order to obtain a 
solution of sodium resinate and myristate, from which the acid 
sought could be precipitated by acetic acid. If myristic acid were 
present, it would, on prolonged digestion of the turbid acid liquid, 
gradually rise to the top as an oily layer. This, however, did not 
take place even after several days; the brown resinate slowly sank 
to the bottom as a pulverulent mass, and the liquid became clear 
without yielding an oily layer.” 

Carbon bisulphide appears to be unsuitable for the removal of 


THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. 109 


the perfume from orris root, the quantity of essential oil being 
exceedingly small, and the solvent removing with it tannin, and a 
very soft resin. 

An examination of a pure sample of the crude product was also 
made by Dr. Hager *, according to which, this substance “ at the 
ordinary temperature has the consistence and colour of the basili- 
con ointment of the German Pharmacopeia; it melts at 38° to 
40° C., forming a clear brownish-yellow liquid, which begins tc 
congeal at 28° C.; it is soluble in 5 to 6 parts of 90 °/, alcohol, 
forming a clear yellow solution at medium temperatures.” 

In the distillation of orris-root the practice of adding sulphuric 
acid to convert the starch into dextrine and glucose is frequently 
followed. In this way the yield of oil is increased—by reason of 
the starch granules which imprison the oil-cells being dissolyed— 
but the delicacy of the odour of the oil is injured. 

Tris germanica is cultivated in Kashmir. It is known in India 
by its common Persian name Bikh-i-banafshah, meaning “ Violet- 
root.” The correct Persian name is Stsan-i-dsmdnjuni. Indian 
orris-root differs from the European inasmuch as the bark of the 
rhizome has not been removed. The rhizomes of different species 
of Iris hardly differ in structure. They consist of a brown epi- 
dermis, composed of compressed and nearly empty cells, covering 
a white cortical cellular tissue containing starch; this is separated 
by a layer of brownish compressed empty cells from the central, 
woody, yellowish tissue of the rhizome. The latter is built up of 
large, thick-walled, spherical porous cells, loaded with starch ; 
here and there between the cells may be seen a prism of oxalate of 
lime. The vascular bundles are numerous, in each, irregular rings 
of spiral vessels surround a central bundle of jointed vessels, 
Bombay is supplied with orris-root from Persia and Kashmir, 


Costus. 


The perfume of this root very much resembles that of orris-root, 
and can, therefore, be classed in the Violet series. 

This plant was well known to the ancients by the Greek name 
kootos and the Syriac name Koshta. Botanically it is known as 
Aplotaxis Lappa, Decaisne (derived from dzXéos, simple, and rd£us, 
series ; the word should therefore be Romanized as Haplotazis). 

* Pharm. Centralhalle, 1875, p. 153, 


110 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


It is identical with Aplotazis auriculata, DeCandolle, and Auclandia 
Costus of Falconer. 

It is a composite plant inhabiting the North-western Himalayas. 
According to Stewart it grows at from 10,500 to 13,000 feet 
elevation, in parts of the basins of the Jhelam and the Chenab. 

Under the name of Saussurea hypoleuca, Sprengel, it is mcluded 
in Clarke’s ‘ Composite Indice,’ and is said to extend from Sikkim 
to Kashmir at an elevation of from 7000 to 12,000 feet. It is 
described by Dr. Falconer * as growing on the mountain slopes of 
the Kashmir valley at an elevation of 8000 to 9000 feet, and he 
was the first to trace the drug to its true source. The plant has 
no relation whatever to Costus speciosus, Sm., or Costus Arabicus, 
Linn.t+, as some dealers in drugs imagine. 

The native synonyms of the root are :—Arabic, Qust or Koost ; 
Persian, Kosht, Kost; Sanskrit, Koshtam; Tamil, Joshtam; 
Telinga, Goshtamu; Bengalee, Pachak. In Bombay it is called 
Ouplate; in Kashmir Koot. In China it is known as Muh-hiung 
and Kwang-muh-hiang. 

In ‘Powell’s Punjab Products,’ the writer, quoting from the 
recorded observations of Dr. Johnstone, who collected the plant in 
Kashmir, says :—“ As the snow melts at the end of March the 
rootstock appears, its caudal leaves develop in the beginning of 
June, and it comes to full fruition in September. It is a peren- 
nial, leaves and stem dying yearly to the rootstock ; the exstipulate 
caudal leaves rise in threes, the two lateral spathing the centre ; 
the centre sheathing the stem as it shoots above the ground. The 
stem, two or three of which may arise from the rootstock, stands 
in adult growth forty inches, is fluted, lined internally with pith, 
and sheathed with exstipulate tristichous leaves. The rootstock 
varies in size from nine to fifteen inches in length, and from three 
inches upwards in thickness. The caudal leaves spring straight 
from the rootstock and are supported on petioles eighteen inches 
long. The leaves are simple, obcordate, eight by five inches in 
adult growth and strongly veined.” Guibourt says t :—‘‘ The 
thickness of the root varies from that of the little finger to 54 
millimetres.” The roots are dug up in the months of September 
and October, when the plant begins to be torpid; they are chopped 

* Trans. Linn. Soc. xix. p. 23. 
+ Cooke, in Pharm. Jul. [3] viii. p. 41. 
t Hist. des Drogues, iil. p. 29. 


THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. Rig 


up into pieces from two to six inches long, and exported without 
further preparation. 

The quantity collected is very large, amounting, as far as 
Dr. Falconer could learn, to about two million lbs. per annum. 
Large quantities are imported into Bombay from Kashmir wd 
Amritsir, and a portion is sent through to Calcutta. 

The root, as met with in commerce, consists of irregular, crooked, 
twisted pieces, from two to three inches in length, and from half 
to one and a half inches in diameter, almost always split, with a 
rough, brown, and somewhat reticulated surface, marked by longi- 
tudinal ridges, and very compact and brittle. The pithy central 
portion is generally absent and appears to have decayed away 
before the root was collected. Internally it is dirty white, with 
radiating bundles, leaving numerous small cylindrical channels 
filled with a brownish resin. 

When cut or rubbed it has a strong and definite odour resem- 
bling that of violets or orris-root. In taste it is at first camphor- 
aceous, and then bitter with a slight pungency, but by no means 
unpleasant. The genuine root does not appear to be at all subject 
to the attack of insects, although fragments of foreign roots 
introduced as adulterations are nearly destroyed. Of the two 
varieties met with in the bazaars in India, that called Kut tulkh is 
probably the old, and Kut shirin the young root. Dr. Stewart 
hazarded the opinion that Kut shirin is the produce of a different 
and unknown plant. - 

A microscopic examination shows that Costus-root consists of 
two parts, viz. a thick cortical layer of close texture pervaded by 
a few lactiferous vessels, and an inner radiating portion, the 
parenchyma of which is not so dense. This portion is also pro- 
vided with lactiferous ducts, and a very abundant scalariform 
vascular system which appears loaded with resinous matter. No 
trace of starch is to be seen, nor does the iodine test indicate its 
presence. The dried root yields 1 per cent. of a light yellow 
essential oil of sp. gr. 0°982; rotatory power +15° 29! in 100 
millim. tube. It begins to boil at 275° C., and about a half passes 
over below 315° when decomposition takes place (Schimmel). 

Dr. Birdwood remarks that the root of a plant with the native 
name of Pushkar, believed to be a species of Lingularia, is used 
for adulterating Koot; the Kashmiris at Lahore make the same 
statement, and say that five or six kinds of roots are used as 
adulterants. 


112 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


In 1859 a communication was made to the Agri-Horticultural 
Society of India, and published in their journal, concerning two 
roots, one called Koot and the other Thooth. They were from the 
hills of that part of the Kangra district which borders on Chumba. | 
The Koot was identified as the Costus, the subject of the com- 
munication, and the other was believed by Dr. Thomson to be the 
root of Salvia lancata, which was said to be common also in 
Kashmir, where it is used to adulterate ‘‘ Kut.’ Subsequently 
Mr. Cope, of Umritsur, contributed some remarks to the same 
Society on the adulterations of this drug. He says :—“ This adulte- 
ration is carried to such a pitch, with the assistance not only of 
the Thooth (which so closely resembles the genuine article in every 
respect but its qualities, that it is difficult to distinguish the one 
from the other after admixture, which imparts to the false the 
odour of the true drug) but with other foreign substances, of 
which cow-dung is one, that I have ascertained as a fact that the 
more unscrupulous dealers use some 20 seers of Koot to flavour 
100 seers of trash. When Thooth was first found useful as an 
admixture it was sold at Rs. 1-8 per maund; being now the main 
ingredient of the Putchuk of commerce, it has risen to Rs. 4-8. 
I am told that two other substances resembling the genuine article 
in exterior appearance have been ascertained to serve as ingredients 
in the mixture sent to Calcutta and Bombay for exportation to 
China under the name of Putchuk. They are a root called Chog 
brought from the hills, which is generally reported to be a dele- 
terious drug, and Nirbisi, the root of a species of Aconitum, 
probably a virulent poison” *. 

Costus is universally employed by the shawl-merchants in 
Kashmir as a protector of Kashmir fabrics from the attacks of 
moth and insects. The dried root is an agreeable fumigatory and 
yields excellent pastilles which burn fairly. It is exported in 
enormous quantities to China, where it is used as an incense. 
Baden Powell in his ‘ Punjab Products’ says :—‘ Lines of camels 
may often be met passing down to Multan, the ‘ Kut’ perfuming 
the air for a considerable distance. No mandarin will give an 
audience until the ‘ pachak ’ mcense smokes before him ; in every 
joss-house it smoulders before the Tri-Budh Deity; in every 
floating junk on the Chinese rivers (the only house of countiess 
hordes), Budh’s image is found, and the smoke of the ‘ pachak’ 


* Journ, Agri-Hort, Soc. India, xi. part i. p. 76, and xi. part ili. p. 3. 


THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. 11s 


religiously wends its way heavenward; with the bulk of the 
Chinese this ceremony is regarded as sufficient to propitiate the 
gods. In India itis a crown monopoly; each village in the vicinity 
of the ‘ Kut’ fields is assessed at a fixed amount yearly, which 
must be delivered in the capital. The Maharaja’s agents buy up the 
surplus at one chilki rupee per maund, and retail it double rate.” 
Besides the above-mentioned uses, it is employed as a medica- 
ment both internally and externally, and is smoked as a narcotic 
and stimulant. 

The opinion was expressed by Guibourt * that the Costus plant 
is nearly allied to the Carlines and Chameleons, the roots of which 
plants are split up on one side and have also the similar gnawed 
appearance. Attention is also drawn to the fact that the ‘‘ White 
Chameleon ” found by Pierre Bélon on the island of Crete pro- 
duced a root so powerfully odorous of violets that the room in 
which specimens were kept became perfumed to such a degree as 
to cause headache. This plant is the “ White Chameleon” of 
the ancient Greeks +. It has a root as thick as a man’s thigh, 
and develops its powerful violet odour when dry. It is the Carlina 
gummifera of Lesson, and identical with the Acarna gummifera, 
Willdenow; the Atractylis gummifera, Linneus, and the Cnicus 
carline folio, gummifer acauleatus of Tournefort. 


Several woods have a well-defined violet odour, as the Acacia 
homalophylla, generally known as “ Myall wood.” It gives off 
its fragrance as long as the wood remains unpolished. This tree 
is very common in the deserts of the interior of Eastern and 
South-eastern Australia, especially in the country along the River 
Murray and its tributaries. Samples exhibited in London from 
Queensland were said to be derived from Acacia pendula. 

A substance having a similar odour has been extracted by benzene 
from the wood of the Picrasma quassioides. 

Amongst flowers, the violet odour is very noticeable in the 
Tritelia uniflora, a lily from Buenos Ayres; Dendrobium hetero- 
carpum, an orchid; also in the Oncidium inosmum, a beautiful 
orchid with yellow flowers spotted with brown. 


* Journal de Chimie médicale, viii. p. 666. 
+ See Lefranc, ‘Sur les plantes connues des Grees sous les noms de Chameleon 
lane et noir,’ Bull. de la Soc. Bot. de France, xiv. p. 48, and Journal de 
Pharmacie, 4° série, vill. p. 572. 
I 


114 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


A strongly perceptible odour of violets emanates from the 
young green parts of the Geonoma Pamila or “scented palm.” It 
is a native of Brazil, and one of the 40 known species of Geonoma, 
which are reed-like palms whose natural habitat is confined to 
the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, where they form part of 
the underwood of deuse forests. A specimen of this palm may 
be found in the Botanic Gardens, Regent’s Park. 


CASSIE. 


The well-known odour of Cassie is considered to approach that 
of the Violet. The trees cultivated at Grasse and Cannes for this 
perfume are the Acacia Farnesiana, Willd., a native of the West 
Indies and originally naturalized in Europe in the Farnesian 
Gardens at Rome; the Acacia Bertoloni, a native of Chili; andthe 
Australian Acacia lophantha, Willd., producing flowers of similar 
odour. 

The Acacia dealbata or “Silver Wattle,” and the A. pycnantha 
of Tasmania, and A. suaveolens of New South Wales, do not appear 
to have been planted in the South of France, although they might 
be tried with advantage. There are other sweet-scented Acacias 
in the tropics, such as A. odoratissima, Willd., and <A, latronum, 
Willd., both natives of Coromandel, and A. /omatocarpa, DeCand., 
native of Malacca, whose perfume might with advantage be utilized 
in our Colonies*. 

The young plants of Acacia Farnesiana are raised from seeds, 
which, after being steeped in water, are sown in a warm and well- 


* The recent Report of the Royal Commission of Enquiry into the Vegetable 
Products of Victoria states that a witness, resident in Melbourne, gave infor- 
mation as follows regarding the Australian method of manufacturing “ essence 
of Wattle blossom ” :—‘ The blossoms gathered after sundown, carefully sepa- 
rated from stalks and leaves, are macerated in olive-oil of very fine quality at 
ordinary temperature for twenty-four hours, after which they are strained out 
and pressed, fresh flowers being added. This operation is repeated for seven 
days. One part of this perfumed oil is macerated with one part of pure spirit, 
60 o.p.. for seven days, being frequently agitated. Lastly, the oil is allowed to 
separate, and the spirit carefully poured off.” (Elsewhere, in course of exami- 
nation, this witness lays great stress on the superior value of grape-spirit for 
this use. For some perfumes, grape spirit, containing minute quantities of 
several organic ethers, is preferable to “ silent ” spirit.) 


THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. 115 


sheltered spot. Whilst quite young, the weak-looking plants are 
weeded out and the strongest ones left in the bed. In the third 
year they have generally reached a height of 2 or 3 feet; they are 
then grafted and transplanted to the open ground in fields well 
exposed to the sun and sheltered from the cold winds, each tree 
requiring about 12 square feet of land. Before planting, the 
ground is deeply trenched and well dressed with manure. The 
tree flourishes best in the neighbourhood of Grasse and Cannes. 
The trees begin to Hower after the third year from the time they 
were transplanted, and continue to grow till they reach a height 
of about 15 feet, with branches 6 feet long and a stem as thick as 
a man’s wrist. The season of flowering is from October to January 
or February, according to the presence or absence of frost. The 
blossoms are successive, some being ready for plucking while others 
are scarcely formed, which is a great advantage to the cultivator, 
as he can thus manipulate his harvest by degrees. The flowers 
are gathered twice a week, in the daytime, and are brought to 
the factories in the evening. Each full-grown tree will produce 
two lbs. weight of flowers. The perfume is extracted by the 
processes of maceration and enfleurage. 

It has been noticed that the seeds and root-bark of these sweet- 
scented Acacias, when chewed, taste and smell execrably of garlic. 
The association of the violet odour and the odour of garlic has 
been remarked in other plants, such as the Tritelia uniflora, and 
is very curious. It is probable that the peculiar odorous principle 
of many vegetable substances is newly formed during fermentation 
(instantly or after a time) of the saccharine juices of the plants, 
either by natural or artificial means. At all events it is a fact 
that very small quantities of the blossoms of the violet, elder, 
linden, or cowslip, added to a fermenting liquid, are sufficient to 
communicate a very strong taste and smell, which the addition of 
the water distilled from a quantity a hundred times greater would 
not effect. This fact is made use of in Bavaria in brewing various 
kinds of beer, distinguished by different flavours, which are given 
by allowing small quantities of the herbs and blossoms of particular 
plants to ferment along with the wort. Wines are also artificially 
flavoured in the same way, notably the German “ May-wine ” or 
**Maitrank,” sprigs of Asperula odorata being put into the fer- 
menting vat. The multiplication of odours by fermentation and 
their production from plants not originally containing them will 

12 


116 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


be afterwards noticed, but before quitting the subject of Violet 
and the curious ways in which this odour is formed by Nature, 
mention may be made of a fact which was known to the Romans, 
viz. that when oil of turpentine is taken inwardly, it imparts the 
odour of violets to the urine, and the same effect is produced 
when the human body is exposed to its vapours for a considerable 
time. 


YTLANG-YLANG. Py 


CHAT ALTE Nal 
YLANG-YLANG.—CHAMPA.—ARTABOTRYS. 


YLANG-YLANG. 


As erroneous ideas are current respecting the botanical source of 
Ylang-ylang oil, it is considered necessary to describe at some 
length the tree yielding it, also the trees yielding analogous per- 
fumes. The facts hitherto published in foreign journals regarding 
the physical properties of the oil are also given in extenso, as the 
constitution of the oil indicates the possibility of its synthetic 
formation. 

The tree whose flowers furnish the essential oil known by this 
name—sometimes spelt Ihlang-Ihlang and Alan-guilan (meaning 
“ Flower-of-Flowers ”’)—is the Cananga odorata of Rumphius * 
belonging to the natural order “ Anonacee.” 

Rumphius gives a detailed description + of the Bonga-Cananga, 
as the Malays designate the tree, but his illustration is defective. 

Lamarck gives short notices of this tree { under the headings 
“ Canang Odorant ” and ‘Uvaria odorata.” 

According to Roxburgh, who describes it under the name 
Uvaria odorata §, the plant was brought in 1797 from Sumatra to 
the Botanic Gardens of Calcutta, and he states that in 1809 it had 
a trunk 36 inches in circumference at 4 feet from the ground, and 
was tall in proportion. 

Dunal gives a somewhat more detailed description of (varia 


5] 


* Hooker and Thomson’s ‘ Flora Indica,’ i, p. 130, and Hooker’s ‘Flora of 
British India, i. p. 56. 

+ Herb. Amb. ii. cap. xix. fol. 195, tab. 65. 

} Ency. méthodique, “ Botanique,” i. p. 505, 

§ Flor. Ind. ii. p. 661. 


118 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


odorata, or, more properly, Unona odorata, as he himself corrected 
it, in his ‘Monographie de la Famille des Anonacées’ *, which 
chiefly repeats the statements of Rumphius. 

A very fine coloured illustration of the Cananga odorata is given 
in the ‘ Flora Jave’ of Blume +, the accuracy of which illustra- 
tion may be accepted from the fact of Professor Flickiger’s 
acknowledgment { of its perfect agreement with numerous speci- 
mens of Cananga which he had seen at DeCandolle’s herbarium 
at Geneva, also at the herbarium of Delessert. 

The unjustifiable appellation “Unona odoratissima,’ which has 
erroneously passed into many writings, originated with Blanco §, 
who, in his description of the intense perfume of the flowers, was 
induced to used the superlative “ odoratissima.” 

Baillon || defines ‘‘Canangium” to be a section of the genus 
Uvaria, from which he contends the Ylang-Ylang tree should not 
be separated. 

The notice of Maximowicz, ‘‘ Ueber den Ursprung des Parfiims 
Ylang Ylang” (‘On the origin of the perfume Ylang-Ylang ”’), 
contains merely a confirmation of the derivation of the same from 
Cananga. 

The Cananga odorata is a tree attaining a height of about 
60 feet, the trunk being straight throughout, with a smooth ash- 
coloured bark, having few but profusely ramified diverging 
branches ; the young shoots are round and smooth. The leaves 
are short-petioled, drooping, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with the 
margins entire, but waved and slightly downy along the nerves of 
the underside; they are arranged in two rows, and attain a 
length of 4 to 7 inches and a breadth of 2 to 3 imches. The 
handsome and conspicuous flowers are in fascicles of generally 3, 
sometimes 4, on short peduncles from the axils of the leaves or 
the shoots of the former year’s growth and from the nodes of 
leafless branches. These large bell-shaped, gradually drooping 
flowers are of a pale yellow or greenish yellow, and possess a most 
exquisite perfume, which is frequentiy compared to a mixture of 
the hyacimtk, narcissus, and clove, and sometimes to a mixture of 


e) 


* Paris, 1817, pp. 108 and 114. 

+ Brussels, 1829, vol. 1. fol. 29, tabb. ix. et xiv. B. 

t Archiy. der Pharm. 188], p. 218, and Pharm. Journ. [8] xi. p. 934. 
§ ‘Flora de Filipinas,’ Manilla, 1845, p. 325. 

|| ‘ Dict. de Botanique.’ 


YLANG-YLANG. 119 


jasmine and lilac. The lobes of the tripartite leathery calyx are 
finally recurvate. The six lanceolate petals soon spread out flat 
and grow to a length of 2? inches and a breadth of about haif an 
inch, and are longitudinally veined, The filaments are somewhat 
numerous. The elevated receptacle is slightly flattened or 
depressed at the summit. The green, berry-like fruit is formed of 
from 15 to 20 rather long-stalked separate carpels, which enclose 
from 3 to 8 seeds arranged in 2 rows, 

According to Hooker and Thomson and to Bentham and Hooker* 
Cananga odorata is the only species of this genus; the plants 
formerly classed together with it under the names Unona or Uvaria, 
some of which likewise possess odorous flowers, are now distributed 
between these two genera, which are tolerably rich in species. 
The Cananga differs from the Uvaria by the valvate sepals and 
from Unona by the double-rowed arrangement of the seed. 

Cananga odorata is a native of Ava and Tenasserim; it is 
distributed throughout all Southern Asia, and is very generally 
cultivated. In the wild state the tree grows to a much greater 
height, but the flowers are not so rich in perfume (according to 
Blume, almost odourless). In habit the Cananga resembles the 
Micheltia Champaca, L. (a fine illustration of this is lkewise 
found in Blume’s ‘ Flora Javee,’ 111. Magnoliacez, tab. 1), a native 
of India, which is exceedingly prized on account of the very 
pleasant perfume of its yellow flowers, and which was very cele- 
brated in ancient times by the Hindus. Among the admired 
fragrant flowers which are preferred to all others by the Javanese 
—who are in this respect very dainty—the most highly valued are 
those of the “Tjempaka” (Michelia Champaca) and the “ Kenanggi 
wangi” (Cananga odorata) t. 

The oil of Cananga seems first to have reached Europe in about 
1864, and in Paris and London its choice fragrance found full 
recognition. At first only very small quantities were imported 
from the Indian Archipelago; but large consignments were soon 
received from Manila in the Philippine Islands (14° 53’ N. lat., 
120° 52’ EK. long.), where German pharmacists engaged in its 
distillation, also in that of the Michelia Champaca. These 
chemists were Oscar Reymann, Adolf Roensch, and Henri 
Julien, and the industry is now extensively carried on by Sartorius. 


* “Genera Plantarum,’ 1864, i. p. 24. 
+ Junghuhn, ‘ Java,’ Leipzig, 1852, p. 106. 


120 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The Cananga is also cultivated in the Malay Peninsula, Java, 
and the Moluccas, and probably its cultivation could be easily and 
profitably extended in many other localities of similar climate, so 
as to meet the continually increasing demand for the oil and 
enable consumers to obtain it at a moderate price. The Javanese 
oil is at present considered the finest and of superior perfume to 
the Indian. 

According to Guibourt * the so-called ‘ Macassar oil,” which 
for many years has been celebrated as a “ hair-oil,” is cokernut oil 
perfumed by digestion with the flowers of Cananga odorata and 
Michelia Champaca and coloured by turmeric. Such unguents 
have been in use in India from ancient times, and are known as 
“ Borbori” or ‘ Borriborri,” for anointing the hair and the whole 
body, particularly during the rainy season. 

The yield of essential oil from Cananga is somewhat small, 
being, according to Reymann, of Manila, about 25 grams from 
5 kilograms of flowers. 

An examination of Ylang-ylang (Aylan-gilan) oil was made in 
1873 by H. Gal, and the results of his investigations presented in 
a memoir to the French Academy of Sciences +. The specimen of 
Ylang-ylang oil examined by Gal is stated in his report to have 
been obtained “by distillation from the flowers of the ‘Unona 
odoratissima, an Anonaceous tree growing in the Antilles and 
Jamaica.” His interesting study may be abstracted as follows :— 
“'The oil has a density of 0°980 at a temperature of 15°C. It 
passes over entirely in distillation without leaving any carbonaceous 
residue, but within very extended limits of temperature, ebullition 
commencing at about 160° C. and the temperature continuing to 
rise till beyond 300°C. The oil is insoluble in water, only partially 
soluble in alcohol, but entirely soluble in ether. The portion 
insoluble in alcohol and which can be dissolved in ether appears 
after the evaporation of that solvent as a semi-fluid transparent 
mass ; this product amounts to about one fourth of the oil. Nitric 
acid acts upon the Ylang oil with great energy, intense vapours 
being disengaged in the cold, and by the addition of water a resin 
is obtained presenting a great analogy with that which is formed 
by oxidation of benzoin by means of the same reagent. Sodium 


* Hist. des Drogues, 1850, iii. p. 675. 
+ ‘Comptes Rendus,’ June 16, 1873. 


YLANG-YLANG. 121 


bisulphite is without action upon this oil. Potash, on the con- 
trary, when sufficiently concentrated and used at a suitable tempe- 
rature, gives rise to a kind of saponification. If the alkaline 
portion be removed and a fresh quantity of potash added, and the 
treatment be repeated until the oil is no longer attacked, a sub- 
stance is left which is insoluble in water. The aqueous portion 
upon the addition of hydrochloric acid deposits a solid body having 
a crystalline aspect. This dissolves with facility in boiling water ; 
the solution, being filtered to separate a small quantity of resinous 
matter, yields upon cooling white pearly plates. This body melts 
at about 120° C.; it volatilizes very readily, and is deposited upon 
the cool sides of the vessel in shining needles ; it boils regularly at 
about 245° C. These are the physical characteristics of benzoic 
acid, and this substance has also its chemical properties. In fact, 
if a small quantity be heated in presence of an excess of lime, an 
oil is separated which is insoluble in water and possesses the odour 
and properties of benzene. Treated with perchloride of phos- 
phorus an energetic reaction takes place, and the piquant and 
characteristic odour of chloride of benzene becomes manifest. A 
few drops of this latter body with alcohol yielded benzoic ether. 
For greater certainty Gal submitted some of this acid to analysis. 
0:276 of matter, ignited with oxide of copper, gave 0°126 of water 
and 0°696 of carbonic acid. 


Found. Calculated. 
Cy. e. ooyr 68°8 
| theta te 50 49 


“ Tt is therefore quite evident that the acid abstracted from the 
oil by saponification is none other than benzoic acid. 

“The part insoluble in potash was distilled with water and then 
separated from the water in the distillate. After drying over 
ealcium chloride this oil distilled at about 170° C. to 300° C., very 
nearly as the primitive oil. With so great a range of temperature 
it was useless to expect to separate from this matter definite 
products with a constant boiling-point ; Gal therefore attempted 
to ascertain the nature of these bodies, which might be supposed 
to consist of hydrocarbons analogous to those so often met with in 
oils. The product was treated with phosphoric anhydride; a 
vigorous reaction took place and a liquid was collected which no 
longer possessed the odour of the essence. Iodide of phosphorus 


123 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


also reacted upon it with great energy, and a liquid was distilled 
more dense than water and possessing a piquant odour. These 
reactions showed that it was an oxygenated substance—or, rather, 
a mixture of oxygenated substances—resembling the alcohols in 
chemical properties.” Gal considers it “ probable that the acid 
referred to may be considered as forming in the oil benzoic ethers 
with these alcohols. On the one hand, the acid does not exist in 
the oil in a free state, and on the other hand he was unable to 
obtain any alcohol soluble in water by distillation of the oil in 
presence of potash.” 

An examination of the oil of Cananga was since made by Adolf 
Convert, of Frankfort, with the following result * :—“ The oil did 
not affect litmus-paper moistened with alcohol ; at 170° C.a small 
portion distilled over, but the thermometer gradually rose to 290° C., 
and at a still higher temperature the oil was decomposed. As the 
portions passing over below 290° had a strongly acid reaction, the 
presence of compound ethers was very probable. Ten grams of 
the oil were then boiled with 20 grams of alcohol and 1 gram of 
potash during one day in a flask provided with an inverted con- 
denser. ‘The alcohol was then separated by distillation, the residue 
supersaturated with dilute sulphuric acid, and, together with much 
water, submitted to distillation until the distillate almost ceased to 
have an acid reaction. The distillate was then neutralized with 
barium carbonate and the filtrate concentrated, whereupon it 
yielded crystals which were recognized as nearly pure acetate. 
The acid residue containing the potassium sulphate was shaken 
with ether, and the ethereal solution, after being evaporated, left 
a crystalline mass of an acid reaction, which was coloured violet 
by ferric chloride. This reaction, probably ascribable to the 
presence of a phenol, failed to make its appearance after the mass 
had been recrystallized from boiling water. The aqueous solution 
of the purified crystalline scales then gave only a small flesh- 
coloured precipitate with ferric chloride. The crystals, forming 
small lamelle, melted at 120°. In order to demonstrate the 
presence of benzoic acid, the crystals were boiled with water and 
oxide of silver, and the crystals that separated from the cooled 
filtrate were dried over sulphuric acid—0:0312 gram of them 
yielded, on combustion, 0°0147 gram, or 47:1 of silver. Benzoate 


* Aicuiy der Pharm. 1881, p. 218. 


YLANG-YLANG. ia 


of silver contains 46°6 of metal; hence the identity of the crystals 
with benzoate of silver was proved. For the separation of the 
alcoholic constituent, which is present in the form of an apparently 
inconsiderable quantity of benzoic ether, far more Ylang oil would 
have been required than was at the operator’s disposal. 

“« Besides a benzoic ether, and probably a phenol, the oil gives 
indications of the presence of an aldehyde or ketone, since, on 
shaking it with acid sodium sulphite, the formation of a very small 
amount of crystals was observed. Like the benzoic acid, the acetic 
acid is no doubt present in Cananga oil in the form of a compound 
ether.” 

The name Cananga is frequently used in Amboyna to designate 
the Unona tripetala, DeC.* (Unona tripetaloidea, Dunal + ; Uvaria 
tripetala, Lam.t). 

This is a tree of about 40 feet high, native of Amboyna in plains 
and on hills. In habit it resembles the Michelia Champaca. Its 
leaves are lanceolate, the upper surface wrinkled, the under surface 
tomentose ; the flowers are on solitary peduncles, sweet-scented and 
greenish. The fruit is about the size of a plum. ‘The carpels are 
stipulate, ovate, somewhat triquetrous, granulated, and 3-seeded. 
The name of this tree in the Malay language is Cananga outin. 
The word outa seems to mean wild or uncultivated, as it is also 
applied to an uncultivated sort of patchouli to distinguish it from 
the cultivated sort designated wangi; and the word owfin in 
ourang-outan (a monkey) means a “ wild” man. 

The Unona hamata of Roxburgh and Unona uncinata, Lamarck, 
are referred to Artabotrys odoratissima; and Unona suaveolens, 
Blume, to Artabotrys suaveolens. 

The Uvaria dulcis is a large woody climber found in the Moluccas 
and Tenasserim. It is described by Dunal§. Its young branches 
are densely tomentose. I.eaves oval or oblong, puberulous above, 
woolly beneath, 3 to 5 inches long, 14 to 24 inches broad, petiole 
; to finch. Flowers 2 inches diameter, subumbellate, greenish, 
odorous; peduncle ¢ to inch. The petals are oblong, subacute, 
tomentose on both sides. 


* Syst. 1. p. 490. 

+ Mon. des Anon. p. 104; Rumph. Amb. ii. p. 197, tab. 66. f. 1. 

} Dict. i. p. 597. 

§ Mon. des Anon. p. 90, tab. 13; also DeC. Prodr. i. p. 88; Hooker and 
Thomson, Flor. Ind. p. 88; and Blume, Flor. Jav., Anon. tab. 3. 


124 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


CHAMPAC. 


This perfume of great delicacy is derived from the flowers of 
Michelia Champaca, Linn. (Sp. 756), and under such name is 
described by 5 

DeCandolle, Prodr. i. p. 79. 
Roxb., Flor. Ind, 1. p. 656. 
Wight and Arnott, Prodr. i. p. 6. 
Wight, Illust. 1. p. 13. 

Blume, Flor. Jav. ix. t. i. 

Tent., Flor. Nap. vii. t. 3. 

The synonyma are :— 

Michelia aurantiaca, Wallich in Plant. As. Rar. 11. t. 157. 
M. pubinervia, Blume, Flor. Jav. Magn. xiv. t. 4. 
M. Rheedii, Wight, Illust. i. xix. t. 5. fig. 6. 

¥ Rheede, Mal. 1. t. 19. 

2 Rumph., Amb. ii. t. 67. 

The name Michelia was given by Linneus to this tree in honour 
of Pietro Antonio Micheli, a celebrated Florentine botanist who 
died in 1737, and the name Champaca is derived from Ciampa, an 
island between Camboge and Cochin China, where the tree grows. 
This island is also called Tsampa, hence also the appellation M. 
Tsiampaca. The essential oil distilled from the flowers is known 
in India as Pand, also as Champa-Ka-utter and Keeula-Ka-utter, 
samples of which were so labelled at the London Exhibition, 1862. 

The genus Michelia is entirely Indian. It is very nearly allied 
to Magnoliacee, and although there is no broad line of distinction 
between the two, the latter is distinguished from the former by 
having terminal flowers, more densely spiked carpels, and definite 
ovules, 

In the shady forests of the Eastern Himalaya five species of 
Michelia form a prominent feature in the vegetation of the tempe- 
rate zone at elevations between 5000 and 6000 feet. They are, 
however, impatient of drought, and one only (the Champaca) 
extends as far west as Kumaon. In the Khasian hills and the 
Malayan peninsula other species occur, and the latter locality, 
when we become better acquainted with the vegetation of its 
mountains, may be expected to yield many species. 


CHAMPAC. 125 


The genus is common in Java and the islands of the Eastern 
Archipelago. 

The Michelia Champacais generally cultivated, but is found wild 
in the forests of the temperate Himalaya, from Nipal and Kumaon 
eastward in the forests of Pegu and Tenasserim ; in the temperate 
regions of the Nilghiris, Courtalam, and Travancore, at altitudes 
of 3000 to 5000 feet, and has been distributed in the forests of 
Java, where it is cultivated; also the Philippine Islands and many 
localities throughout the tropics. By cultivation the perfume of 
its flowers is greatly developed. 

It forms a large tree. The branchlets are pubescent. The 
leaves are 8 to 10 inches long by 23 to 4 inches wide; the upper 
surface shining, the ribs of the lower surface rather pubescent or 
silky and paler in colour, the petiole being 1 to 14 inch in length. 
The flowers are pale yellow to orange-coloured, on short, axillary, 
1-flowered, silky peduncles. The buds are silky. The sepals are 
oblong and acute, the petals linear. The carpels congested and 
subsessile. The flowers are not unlike a double Narcissus. 

This tree is celebrated for the exquisite perfume of its flowers, 
though some Europeans find it somewhat too powerful, and at 
night it becomes rather rank. The native women adorn their 
heads with the flowers for the sake of the perfume and for the 
elegant contrast of the rich orange colour with their black hair. 
The tree is highly venerated by the Hindus, who have given one 
of its names, “‘ Tulasi,” to a sacred grove of their Parnassus on the 
banks of the Yamuna. It is also dedicated by them to their god 
Vishnu. 

The most fragrant of the other species of Michelia are :— 

M. montana*.—A forest-tree of 60 feet in height; native of 
Java. Flowers pale yellow ; buds, peduncles, and spathes almost 
naked ; petals 9, lanceolate and acute. 

M. pubinervia +.—A tree of 50 to 60 feet; native of Java. 
Flowers pale copper-coloured. The veins beneath the spathes are 
clothed with rufous villi; the outer petals spatulate and obtuse. 

M. parviflora {.—A native of Java and Ternata. Flowers small, 
of a livid flesh-colour or cream-coloured. Leaves elliptical, a little 


* Blume, Flor. Jav. fase. 19, p. 15, t. 5. 

+ Blume, Flor. Jay. fase. 19, t. 4. 

t$ Rumph. Amb. ii. p. 109; DeC. Syst. i. p. 449; Blume, Flor. Jay. fase. 19, 
p. 18. 


126 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


acuminated, smooth; branchlets, buds, and spathes clothed with 
rufous tomentum. This is a shrub of 7 to 10 feet in height. 

M. alba*.—This species is very little known. It is a native of 
Java and Baleya. Its flowers are white, and described as being 
smaller and more pleasant than those of M. Champaca. 

M. Doltsopa, DeC.+—A native of Java and of Nipaul, about 
Harain-Hetty, where it is called Doltsopa. The leaves are oval- 
oblong, acuminated, smooth, but rather glaucous and rather 
puberulous on the under surface. The flowers are on long stalks 
and the flower-buds clothed with rusty tomentum. The flowers 
are yellow, the petals 6 to 9, are oval, the outer ones oblong, the 
inner ones narrower. Not only the flowers of this species are 
fragraut, but the wood is sweet-scented, and is described as the 
best in Nipaul for buildings. 

The physical characters and chemical constitution of oil of 
Michelia do not appear to have been studied. 

Bhiichampac, or “ Ground Champac,” is a common name incor- 
rectly applied in India to the Kempferia rotunda belonging to a 
totally different order (Zingiberacez) to the true Champac. The 
vernacular name may have been derived from a fancied resem- 
blance of its flowers to those of Michelia Champaca. Another 
denomination, Malankuwa, by which it is known in Malabar, 
according to Van Rheede, is by him explained as meaning 
“* Mountain ginger” f. 

The synonyms in Sanskrit are Tamrapushpa, Sidd@’ha, and 
Ban@hu Drughana. The first of these synonyms indicates that 
the flower is of the colour of copper, which may perhaps be recon- 
ciled to the purple hue within the blossom of this Kempferia. 

The Kempferia rotunda is a species of Galangal (afterwards 
described). It is figured in Curtis’s ‘ Botanical Magazine,’ tab. 920, 
aud is mentioned in the ‘ Asiatic Researches,’ iv. p. 242, and x1. 
p- 328. The richly fragrant flowers. open during April and May, 
one or two at a time on each plant, and wither entirely before 


sunset. In India it is frequently cultivated in gardens on account. 


of its beauty. The full botanical description is given by Roxburgh 
in his ‘ Flora Indica,’ 1. p. 15. 
* Rumph. Amb. ii. p. 199. 


+ Syst. i. p. 448; Wall. Tent. Fl. Nep. t. 3. 
{ Hort. Mal. xi. p. 17, tab. 9. 


an 


KEORA. e7 


KEorRA. 


The name Seora-is applied in Hindustanee to a fragrant 
flowering species of Screw-pine, the Pandanus odoratissimus, Lin. 
fil., which is common on marshy land and in the vicinity of the 
sea in many of the warmest places in the tropics. It is described 
and figured by Roxburgh*; as Pandanus verus by Rumphius +, 
and as Kaida by Van Rheedet{; also as Keyro by Forskal§. The 
Sanskrit name is Ketuka, the Bengalee Kea. By Europeans on 
the Coromandel] coast it is known as Kaldera. 

The male and female flowers are always on separate trees. In 
the Telinga dialect the male tree is known as Mugalik and the 
female as Gozdoogoo. The Malay name of the tree (irrespective 
of gender) is Pandang. In Tahitiit is called Fara or Wharra, and 
in the Hawaiian Islands Hala. 

In the East Indies the tree attains a height of 10 to 20 feet, in 
Mauritius 30 feet, and in some places, as in the Nicobar Islands, 
where it is known as Mellore or “ Nicobar Bread-fruit ” (which 
may be a variety of this species), it has been described as attaining 
a height of 35 to 40 feet |]. 

Occasionally this tree may be found with a round branching 
head, but generally it is in the form of a large ramous spreading 
bush. From the stem or larger branches, long, fusiform, obtusely 
pointed roots ensue, descending till they come to the ground, 
which they enter and then divide. The substance of the most 
solid part of the wood is something like that of a cabbage-stem, 
which by age acquires a woody hardness, on the outside. The 
smooth glossy leaves are confluent, stem-clasping, and closely 
imbricated ; they form three spiral rows round the extremities of 
the branches, drooping, from 3 to 5 feet long, and tapering to a 
very long, fine, triangular point. The margins and back of the 
leaves are armed with very fine sharp spines, those on the margins 
pointing forwards, those on the back pointing sometimes one way 
sometimes the other. The leaves are composed of longitudinal, 
tough, useful fibres like those of the pineapple. The flowers of 


* Corom. i. tabb. 94, 96. t+ Amb. iv. p. 139, tab. 74. 
t Mal. ii. tab. i. 5. § Agypt. tab. 72. 
|| As. Res. iii. p. 161. 


128 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


the male tree consist of a large terminal, pendulous, compound 
leafy panicle, 16 to 20 inches long; the leaves thereof are white, 
linear-oblong, pointed and concave; in the axil of each there is a 
single thyrse, composed of simple-small racemes of long, pointed, 
depending anthers, which are not sessile, but raised from the rachis 
of these partial racemes by tapering filaments. The flowers of the 
female tree are terminal and solitary, having no other calyx or 
corolla than the termination of the three rows of leaves forming 
three imbricated fascicles of white floral leaves or involucres like 
those of the male racemes, only here they stand at equal distances 
round the base of the young fruit. The fruit is oval, bright 
orange-coloured, from 6 to 8 inches diameter and from 6 to 10 
inches in length, weighing from 4 to 8 lbs. It is something in 
appearance like a pineapple, and contains a rich-looking yellow 
pulp intermixed with strong fibres. In Tahiti the natives prepare 
a fermented drink from the juice of this fruit, called Ava fara, 
Pandanus wine. 

The flowers are produced in the rainy season, the tender white 
floral leaves of the male tree being the most fragrant. Their 
fragrance has been described as “ the most delightful, the richest, 
and the most powerful ”’ of floral perfumes ; it is also permaneut, 
being retained by the flower after complete desiccation. 

This singular-looking tree sometimes covers large tracts of 
country with an impenetrable mass of vegetation. It is particu- 
larly abundant in the Sunderbunds, growing on both sides of 
creeks in such profusion as to render them impassable by its 
thorny interlacing branches and aérial roots. It is very common 
along the banks of canals and backwaters in Travancore, in which 
places it is planted to bind the soil, the superfluous growth being 
cut back. In Mauritius the trees are set to form fences or hedge- 
rows around plantations or along the sides of the many roads which 
intersect them. The tree is propagated readily from branches; 
hence it is not unusual to find extensive hedges entirely composed 
of male or of female trees, owing to there having been originally 
a male or a female tree in the neighbourhood to propagate from. 
At certain periods the trees are trimmed, the fibrous leaves being 
useful for making mats and package-bags for the transport of 
coffee, sugar, and grain. The fusiform roots are composed of 
tough fibres, which basket-makers split and use to tie their work 


NAG-KESUR. 129 


with. The seeds are useful for food, also the tender white base of 
the leaves, either raw or boiled. 

Samples of the essential oil distilled in India (there known as 
Keora-ka-utier), also of the fragrant aqueous distillate, have 
occasionally been exhibited in England, but they offered no fair 
criterion of the true perfume, being contaminated with oil of santal- 
wood ; indeed, it is almost impossible to obtain from India any 
essential oils which are not so contaminated, it being the custom 
there to mix santal with all odoriferous substances. The flowers 
are also used in the preparation of a kind of scented catechu paste, 
much esteemed by Hindu ladies for toilet purposes. 

Considering the immense tracts of country in various parts of 
the tropics over which this valuable tree is distributed, also that it 
grows rapidly without any care, it is surprising that the essence of 
its flowers should not have been introduced into European 
commerce *, 


Nac-Kesur. 


Another essential oil which has been overlooked commercially, 
although a specimen of it was exhibited in London thirty years 
ago, is that known in India as Nag-Kesur-ka-utter, distilled from 
the flowers of the Mesua ferreat, a handsome tree of the order 
Guttifere found in the southern Concan and Goa territory, common 
on the mountains of Eastern Bengal, the Eastern Himalaya, and 
the Andaman Islands. It is also under cultivation in India and 
Java for the beauty and fragrance of its white flowers, which are 
from # to 3 inches in diameter, with a large globe of bright gold- 
coloured linear anthers in thecentre. These flowers appear at the 
beginning of the warm season. ‘The anthers of these flowers retain 
their fragrance in the dried state and are sold in the Indian bazaars 
under the name of Nag-Kesur for making satchets and for stuffing 
pillows, also for dyemg silk. Other local names for these dried 
anthers are Ndgacésara, Chdmpéya, and Cdnchana, words which 
have a more or less direct reference to gold{. The tree isin some 


* It is rather remarkable that the flowers, both male and female, of another 
species of Pandanus, the P. fetidus, known in Hindustanee as Keora Kanta, 
possess a highly offensive odour, almost similar to that of the Sterculia fetida. 

+ Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. p. 605; Hooker and Thomson, Flor. Ind. ii. p. 277 ; 
Wicht, ‘ Icones,’ tab. 118. 

} As. Res. iv. p. 295. 


130 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


localities known as Nag-champa. The name “ ferrea,” or “ iron,” 
is in allusion to the hardness of the timber. 


ARTABOTRYS ‘ODORATISSIMUS. 


The odour of the strongly-scented flowers of this plant is closely 
allied to that of Ylang-Ylang, the Cananga odorata. 

The plant is figured and described by Brown in the ‘ Botanical 
Register,’ v. p. 423. 

The synonymy given by Brown is a valuable contribution to the 
‘ Botanical Register,’ and presents a critical view of the scientific 
history of the species. The synonyms are as follows :— 

Uvaria odoratissima, Roxb., Flor. Ind. MS. ined. 
Unona uncinata, Dunal, Anonacées, p. 105, tt. 12 & 12a. 
ee Me DeCandolle, Syst. Nat. 1. p. 491. 
A , Dunal, Anonacées, p. 107. 
Uvaria esculenta, Rottler, in Noy. Act. Soc. Nat. Cur. 
Berol. iv. p. 201. 
»  uncata, Loureiro, Cochin, p. 349. 
Anona unicata, Lamarck, Ency. i. p. 127. 
Annona hexapetala, Linn. Supp. p. 270; Hort. Kew. ii. 
p- 253; Ed. 2, i. p. 335. 
e :, Willdenow, Sp. Pl. 1. p. 1266. 

The shrub is a native of China and the East Indies, where 
it is cultivated as an ornamental covering for walls; it is also 
distributed in Java and Ceylon. It attains a height of about 
6 feet. Its leaves are oblong or lanceolate and glabrous, from 
2 to 8 inches in length by 1 to 2 inches in breadth. The flowers 
are yellow, solitary or in pairs, and extremely fragrant. The petals 
are 1 to 1#inch in length, when young pubescent, especially at the 
base, glabrous when expanded. The carpels are obovate-oblong 
and glabrous. 

When cultivated under glass in England the flowers of this 
shrub do not attain the yellow colour natural to them, but remain 
of a pale sickly green. 

The following distinctive features of Artabotrys are mentioned 
by Brown to separate this genus from the plants formerly known 
as Unona or Uvaria:—“In Artabotrys the petals are of equal 
depth, the germen 2-seeded, growing up to a 2-seeded fruit (or 
sometimes accidentally to a solitary-seeded fruit) ; the seeds are 


ARTABOTRYS. 131 


without an arillus, placed side by side, not one above the other, 
and the peduncles furnished with a grapnel or crooked tendril for 
its peculiar support, not, as in most of the other tendril-bearing 
plants, for the assistance of the branches in their ascent.” 

The vernacular names in India for this plant are :— 

Bombay.— Vilayaté- Champa. 

Tamil.—Manoranjitam. 

Telinga.—Phala - sampenga ; Sakala-phala-sampenga ; 
Manoranjitam. 

Malay.—Madura-Kaméshvari ; Manuranjitam. 

Madras.—Manoranjatam. 

The Artabotrys suaveolens, Blume (Flor. Jav., Anon. p. 62, tt. 30, 
31), is a large woody climber met with in the forests of the eastern 
peninsula from Sylhet to Malacca, and distributed eastwards to the 
Philippines. Its leaves are oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, shining 
above, glabrous on both surfaces, or sparsely hairy on the midrib 
beneath; peduncles woody, recurved, many-flowered; flowers 
fascicled, bracteolate; limb of petals cylindric or subclavate ; 
carpels sessile, smooth. 


K2 


132 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


CHAPTER VIL. 


ODOUR OF THE HAYFIELDS. 


Tue Opour or CouMARIN. 


Tue fragrant bean called Tonka, or Tonquin bean, is the seed 
of the Dipterix odorata, a large leguminous forest tree, native of 
Cayenne. In British Guiana this tree is called “ Kumara,’ from 
which name the word “ coumarin ” is probably derived. It grows 
plentifully in some localities, especially above and on the islands 
in the rapids of the Esquibo River. The seeds contain a fine 
fixed oil obtainable by expression, which is used by the natives of 
the colony as a perfumed hair-vil. This oil may have been the 
basis of a once well-known hair-restorer called ‘ Balm of 
Columbia.” The tree is also an inhabitant of Martinique. The 
average height of it is 70 feet, but in Guiana it is said to attain 
90 feet. The pods contain but one seed, which is shaped like an 
almond, but much larger, and covered with a shining black skin. 
The fruit-pod does not open naturally at maturity, as does that of 
most leguminous plants. The seed when ripe and detached from 
the stalk rapidly acquires a powerful and aromatic odour, sug- 
gestive of new hay, although while actually growing it is nearly 
odourless; the hardening of the mature seed developing coumarin, 
its odorous principle, the small white crystals of which are visible 
beneath the covering of the kernel and between the lobes. The 
evaporation of this substance is prevented by the fixed oil in the 
kernel. The perfume is extracted in the form of a tincture, by 
cutting the beans very small and macerating them in spirit of wine. 

Coumarin was discovered in the Tonka bean in 1825 by 
Boullay and Boutron-Charland *, and was studied and analysed 


* Journ. de Pharm. xi. p. 480. 


ODOUR OF THE HAYFIELDS. 133 


by Delalande *. Coumarin is also abundantly developed on the 
dried leaves of the Liatris odoratissima, commonly called “ Deer’s 
tongue”’ or “ Hound’s tongue,” an herbaceous plant found plen- 
tifully in North Carolina, in portions of Lower Georgia, and 
throughout the east and south of Florida, principally along the 
St. John’s River and its tributaries. It is mostly found on the 
edges of what are called “ bays,” 7. e. low-lying places in the pine 
woods, which are partially covered with water, and overgrown 
with “ bays,” a species of maguolia+. Its root-leaves are from 8 
to 12 inches long, by 2 or 3 broad; those on the stem being very 
much smaller. The stem divides above into a broad branching 
panicle of purple flowers, which make the plant an attractive 
one. 

The leaves of the Liatris when green are very slightly odorous, 
due to the presence of a small quantity of essential oil contained 
in glands sunk in funnel-shaped depressions on both the upper 
and lower surfaces of the leaf. Dr. Paschkis found that the pro- 
portion of oil yielded by the leaves was only 10 drops to 250 grams. 
By drying in the shade the leaves rapidly develop a pleasant 
odour very similar to that of the Tonka bean, and mainly due to 
the same principle—coumarin, crystals of which are abundantly 
deposited on the matured leaves when dried. In the early season 
the leaves are said to be very succulent, losing 60 or 70 per cent. 
of moisture in drying, but in September the loss hardly exceeds 
20 per cent. It has been observed by Dr. Wood that they retain 
their fragrance for many years after they are gathered. The 
odour is given off more intensely on a damp day than on a dry 
one. A damp atmosphere will develop the perfume months after 
all sign of its activity has disappeared. 

The odour is very volatile and diffusive, beg most perceptible 
in the upper stories of warehouses where it is kept. A single 
leaf of Deer’s tongue will for many years preserve and manifest 
its perfume, and yet the particles of coumarin volatilized would 
hardly be appreciated in the most delicate balance. 

According to the experiments of Dr. Wood, the yield of cou- 
marin from Deer’s tongue is about 2 drachms to 24 drachms from 
1 lb. of leaves, 


* Ann. Ch. & de Phys. [8] vi. p. 345. t+ Magnolia glaucus. 


134 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Coumarin also occurs in the leaves of the Angrecum fragrans *. 
This is an orchid somewhat resembling Vanilla. It is synonymous 
with Acrobion or Anethum fragrans (Sprengel) and Aranthus 
fragrans (Reichenbach). It is found in Madagascar, Bourbon, 
and Mauritius. In the former island it is known as “ Fanave,”’ 
and in both the latter as “ Faham” and ‘ Bourbon tea.” The 
leaves have an agreeable odour when green, and both leaves and 
fruit when they turn yellow on the plant or have been artificially 
dried acquire a much stronger odour. The long thin fruit-pods 
possess a stronger and more delicate perfume than the leaves, and 
when cured with boiling water in the same way as Vanilla, they 
blacken, remain entire without splitting, and retain their perfume 
for a great length of time. The odour resembles a mixture of 
Vanilla, Tonquin beans, and Melilot. Commercially we know 
only the leaves; they contain an aromatic principle soluble in 
alcohol, ether, and boiling water. It has been isolated by Gobley f, 
in the form of small white silky needles, which, on being pressed 
between the fingers or slightly warmed, develop the characteristic 
odour of Faham and bitter almonds. The fruit is supposed to 
contain a larger proportion of this principle than the leaves. The 
plant is propagated by seed. 

Coumarin is contained in considerable quantity in the pods of 
the Balsam Peru tree, Myroxylon Pereire. 

The Ceratopetalum apetalum, an Australian Saxifragaceous tree 
growing to a height of 50 feet, contains coumarin in large quan- 
tities, both in its bark and fruit. It is also found in the Austra- 
lian Alyzia buvxifolia, a straggling sea-side shrub, which, however, 
does not produce wood of any size. 

The occurrence of coumarin in the hay of Anthoxanthum odo- 
ratum, or “sweet vernal grass,’ is well known, and was first 
studied in 1846 by Dr. Bleibtrent. It has also been found in 
six other grasses :— 


Ataxia Horsfeldii. —) From the leaves. 
Cinna arundinacea. do. 
Hierochloa Alpina. | do. 

do. Australis, ‘ Grasses. do. 

do. Borealis. Root. 
Milium effusum. J Leaves. 


* Dupetit and Thouars, ‘‘ Orchidées d’ Afrique.” 
+ Journ. de Pharm. [3] vii. p. 548. 
¢{ Ann. der Chim. und Pharm. lix. p. 177. 


ODOUR OF THE HAYFIELDS. 135 


Besides the above-named plants, its presence has been dis- 
covered in :— 


Adiantum pedatum. Leaves. 
do. Peruvianum. { Ferns. do. 
do. trapeziforme. do. 
*Drynaria Wildenovi. 
Phoenix dactylifera. A palm. The date. 
Aceras anthrophora. Orchids. Leaves. 
Nigritella angustifolia. ( do. 
Orchis fusca. do, 
Herniaria glabra. Leguminous tree, do. 
Ruta graveolens. Herbaceous plant. do. 
Dipterix oppositifolia. | Leguminous trees. The ripe seed. 
do. _ pteropus. do. 
Alyxia stellata. Evergreen tree. Bark. 
Asperula odorata. Leaves. 
Galium trifolium. | Herbaceous plants. do. 
Liatris spicata. do. 
Prunus Mahaleb. Evergreen tree. Bark. 
Melilotus officinalis. ) Flowers and leaves. 
do. leucanthus. | do. 
do. hamatus. > Herbaceous plants. do. 
do.  altissimus. | do. 
do. albus. J do. 


Ageratum Mexicanum. Annual. Leaves. 


It was at first thought that the sole odorous principle existing 
in Melilotus officinalis was coumarin, but the investigations of 
Zwenger and Bodenbender showed that the odorous principle is 
coumarin-melilotic acid, C;,H,,O;, a compound of melilotic acid 
(hydrocoumaric acid) with coumarint. It has since been shown 
by Phipson that the odorous principle of the plant at the time of 
its maturity is principally melilotol and melilotic acid. 

A note by T. L. Phipson on the discovery of melilotol appeared 
in the ‘ Chemical News,’ 1875 {; his further observations on this 
subject appeared in the ‘ Journ. de Pharmacie, 1878§, to the 
effect that in endeavouring to ascertain how much coumarin could 
be extracted from the Melilotus officinalis, which grows abundantly 


* A specimen of this fern is in the Royal Botanic Gardens, London. 

+ Ann. der Chem. und Pharm. exxvi. p. 257, and Bull. de la Soc. Chim. 
1864, p. 145. 

{ xxxii. p. 125, § xxviii. p. 300. 


136 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


in sheltered places in the neighbourhood of Weymouth, he gathered 
a quantity of the plant while in full bloom in August, and having 
dried it at the ordinary temperature in the air, distilled it entire, 
leaves, flowers, and stalks, with water; then by washing the dis- 
tillate with ether, and evaporating the ether, obtained about 0-2 
per cent. of pure melilotol in the form of a brownish oil giving an 
acid reaction, slightly soluble in water and very soluble in alcohol 
and ether. 

Melilotol is of an extremely agreeable odour, not precisely that 
of coumarin, but exactly resembling that of recently cut hay or 
dried Anthoxanthum odoratum. He therefore infers that the odour 
of dried melilotus and that of the hayfield is principally due to 
melilotol and not to coumarin. By boiling melilotol with a con- 
centrated solution of caustic potash melilotic acid is formed, and 
a slight odour of bitter almonds given off. Phipson’s analysis of 
melilotol resulted in figures agreeing exactly with the formula 
C,H,O,; that of coumarin being C,H,O,. He does not deny 
the existence of coumarin ready formed in the plant, but affirms 
that the sweet odour is due to melilotol, and that melilotie acid, 
C,H,,O3, also exists in the plant, especially in the month of 
August ; the theory being that coumarin is first formed earlier in 
the year, and then by the action of nascent hydrogen is converted 
into melilotol, which, in turn, taking up two equivalents of water 
is converted into melilotic acid. In confirmation of this theory :— 
If coumarin be subjected to the action of nascent hydrogen (by 
sodium amalgam) melilotic acid is formed, the reaction not 
stopping at melilotol, but taking up the 2 equivalents of water as 
fast as they are liberated. 

To prepare coumarin from substances which contain it in an 
uncombined state,—exhaust with alcohol, distil off the alcohol 
from the filtered tinctures, and let the remnant erystallize and 
re-crystallize in water or alcohol with addition of animal charcoal. 
It forms brilliant, colourless, silky needles and leaflets of very 
aromatic odour, which fuse at 67° to 67°:5, boil at 270°, and sub- 
lime unaltered. It is of neutral reaction, dissolves scarcely in 
cold, readily in boiling water, most readily in alcohol, volatile, 
and fixed oils. It erystallizes from boiling water in small rhombic 
plates. By fusion with caustic potash it yields salicylic acid. 

The solubility of coumarin in alcohol of various strengths and 


Su 


ODOUR OF THE HAYFIELDS. 13 


at various temperatures has been found by Schimmel & Co. to be as 
follows :— 


| dissolve | 
100 parts of alcohol . =| 
| at 0° C. | at 16° to17°C. | at 29° to 30° C. 
| to te eee eee = 
of 90 vol. per cent. 71 parts 13:7 parts 42:5 parts 
80 es Gor La ao 5 
70 ” 44, ot 260 
60 ” 32 yy 6-0 ” 160 ,, 
50 ¥ LEY dae 4 5 so" 5 
40 ” O7 ” 15 ” SO 552] 
3 ” 03 ” 06 ”? 17 ” 
20 - 02 ,, 04 4 Os ,, 
10 os OS) 5, 025" -, O's 
100 parts of water 0 bee ae 018 ,, O2i;; 


Coumarin is readily soluble in vaselin. 

The announcement of the artificial preparation of coumarin was 
made by Perkin in a paper read before the Chemical Society 
16th May, 1867. He succeeded in forming it by causing sodium- 
salicylol to react on acetic anhydride, in which it dissolves with 
considerable evolution of heat*. When the violence of the re- 
action moderates, the mixture is boiled for a few moments, then, 
on the addition of water, an oil separates and floats on the surface. 
On distilling this oil, there first passes over a little acetic anhy- 
dride, then a little salicylol, and finally coumarin, which crystal- 
lizes on cooling in the receiver. He obtained it even more simply 
by gently heating for some hours a mixture of 3 parts salicylic 
aldehyde, 5 parts acetic anhydride, and 4 parts of sodium acetate ; 
the whole solidifies on cooling to a crystalline mass, from which, 
on treating it with water, there separates an oil smelling of acetic 
acid and coumarin. An ethereal solution of this oil, when shaken 
with a solution of sodium carbonate, gives up thereto a crystal- 
lizable acid, whilst coumarin remains dissolved in the ether. The 
acid dissolves easily in hot water, alcohol, and ether, and crystal- 
lizes from water in white needles which melt at 146°, and have 
the composition of acetylcoumaric acid. 

When acetylecoumaric acid is gently heated above its melting- 


* Journ. Ch. Soe, xxi. pp. 53, 181. 


138 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


point, it evolves pungent fumes of acetie acid, and ultimately 
leaves a thick oily body, an ethereal solution of which deposits 
crystals of coumarin on evaporation, which can be purified by 
crystallization from alcohol. It agrees in all its properties with 
the coumarin of the Tonka bean, C,H,O,. Its vapour has a 
powerful action on the brain*. 

The formation of coumarin by Perkin’s method, as above de- 
scribed, depends on the simultaneous formation of sodium-acetate, 
for when a mixture of acetyl-salicylol, acetic anhydride, and 
sodium acetate is heated to the boiling-point, a considerable 
quantity of coumarin is produced; acetylcoumarin being first 
formed, and then decomposed on heating into acetic acid and 
coumarin. 

Zwenger says{ that when sodium amalgam is added in small 
quantities to a solution of coumarin in water containing a little 
alcohol at 40°-60°, the coumarin is first converted by assumption of 
water into coumaric acid C,H,O,, and this, by further assimilation 
of nascent hydrogen, is transformed into melilotic (hydrocoumaric) 
acid, CysH,,03. 

Coumarin is also formed in small quantities when malic acid is 
heated with phenol and sulphuric acid f. 

Coumarie acid occurs, associated with coumarin, which is its 
anhydride, in common melilot and in Faham leaves§. It can be 
prepared by dissolving 3°5 grm. of sodium in 60—70 cb. em. of 
alcohol, adding 10 grm. of coumarin, and heating for one or two 
hours. Water is then added, the alcohol boiled off, and hydro- 
chloric acid added. ‘The precipitate is dissolved in a cold solution 
of sodium carbonate, the small quantity of coumarin which re- 
mains undissolved by ether, and the coumaric acid again preci- 
pitated with hydrochloric acid, and finally purified by recrystal- 
lization from hot water ||. It crystallizes in long needles which 
melt at 207°-208°, are slightly soluble in cold, more readily in 
boiling water, and readily in alcohol. It may be sublimed if 
carefully heated, but decomposes on distillation, with the forma- 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. x. p. 284. 

+ Jahresh. 1865, p. 343, and 1867, p. 448. 
t Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xvii. p. 929. 
§ Ann. Chem. Pharm. Suppl. viii. p. 30. 
|| Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. x. p. 284. 


ODOUR OF THE HAYFIELDS. 139 


tion of phenol and other substances. On fusion with potash it is 
decomposed into salicylic and acetic acids. 

Ethylcoumarin was obtained by Perkin, who named it Butyric 
coumarin. Itsmells like ordinary coumarin, and at the same time 
like fresh honey *. It is produced by heating sodium salicylol 
with butyric anhydride, boiling the product for a few minutes, and 
then pouring it into water, distilling the oil which separates, and 
collecting the portion which passes above 290°. It melts at 
70°-71°, solidifies to a crystalline mass on cooling, and distils 
with slight decomposition at 296°-297°. It dissolves sparingly 
in boiling water, easily in alcohol and ether. From alcohol the 
compound crystallizes in large translucent prisms. Ethylcoumarin 
is converted by boiling with caustic potash into Butyrocoumaric 
acid, which crystallizes from dilute alcohol in flat prisms and 
melts at 174° with decomposition f. 

B-Methylcoumarin, C,)H;O2, is formed by the action of con- 
centrated sulphuric acid on a mixture of phenol and aceto-acetic 
ether ; this substance is very similar to coumarin, and crystallizes 
from benzene in needles which melt at 125°-126° f. 

Dimethylcoumarin is formed by the action of sulphuric acid on 
a mixture of paracresol and aceto-acetic ether, and crystallizes 
from dilute alcohol in long, strongly refractive needles, melting 
at 148° §. 

Paracoumarhydrin, C,H,O0;.—This substance, which is meta- 
meric with coumaric acid, is formed when paracotein, CyyH:Og, is 
heated with caustic potash, and crystallizes in plates which smell 
hike coumarin and melt at 82°-83°. An acid very similar to 
piperonylic acid is also formed in the reaction; it is very similar 
to the piperonylic acid which occurs with paracotein in Paracoto 
bark ||. Paracoumarhydrin appears, therefore, to be homologous 
with piperonal. 

There are other artificially prepared compounds possessing this 
perfume, amongst which are Thallin and its salts, These salts 
are manufactured for medicinal purposes as antipyretics and anti- 


* Journ, Chem. Soe. (2) vi. pp. 53, 472. 
Tt Ibid. 1881, i. p. 439. 

¢ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xvi. p. 2127. 
§ Ibid. xvi. p. 2119, and xvii. p. 2187. 

|| Ann, Chem. Pharm. exix. p. 30. 


140 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


septics. Thallin is a liquid base, first prepared in 1885 by Prof. 
Skraup, its chemical formula is CyH,)N(OCH3), and its systematic 
name Tetrahydroparachinanisol. It has a strong odour resembling 
coumarin, and forms well-defined salts with acids. These salts, 
which are yellowish-white crystalline powders, are all freely 
soluble in water, and have the property of forming intensely 
emerald-green solutions; hence, for brevity, the adopted name 
Thallin, from @adXos, a green twig. Ferric chloride produces the 
colour. Sodium thiosulphate changes the green tint into violet, 
and then into wine-red; oxalic acid, at ordinary temperatures, 
into pale yellow, deepening into saffron on heating. 

According to the Patent Specification, parachinanisol (from 
which Thallin is formed by hydrogenation) is obtained by heating 
together paramidoanisol, paranitroanisol, and acrolein*. 

By reducing agents Parachinanisol takes up four atoms of 
hydrogen, forming Thallint. At ordinary temperatures thallin 
is an oily liquid, solidifying when cooled to yellowish crystals. 

Thallin sulphate is a yellowish-white crystalline powder, with a 
bitter and intensely aromatic taste, and a peculiarly persistent 
odour similar to coumarin. Like the base itself, this salt in a 
one per cent. solution is coloured emerald-green. 

Thallin tartrate occurs as a yellowish-white crystalline powder 
with an odour reminding one of anise and coumarin. 

The cdour of coumarin is observed in anisic aldehyde, a heavy 
oil (sp. gr. 1:09) of an amber colour, produced by the action of 
weak nitric acid on oil of anise. The crude product contains 
anisic acid, which may be removed by washing the oil, carefully 
distilling it, and agitating the distillate with weak potash lye. 


* Acrolein is prepared by distilling in a capacious retort a mixture of glyce- 
rine with phosphoric anhydride. The vapours must be condensed in a properly 
cooled receiver, luted on to the retort, and provided with a tube opening into a 
chimney having a good draught. The distilled liquid separates into two layers, 
the upper one consisting of acrolein, and the lower one of an aqueous solution 
of the same mixed with a quantity of acrylic acid. The distillate, after diges- 
tion with finely powdered litharge to neutralize the acid, must be rectified by 
the heat of a water-bath, and submitted to a second rectification from calcic 
chloride. All these operations must be conducted in vessels filled with carbonic 
anhydride, because acrolein becomes rapidly oxidized when exposed to the air. 
It is a clear colourless liquid, lighter than water, and when pure is neutral to 
test-paper. It boils at about 125° Fahr. 

t Archives der Pharmacie, xxii. p. 840, and Pharm. Journ. [3] xv. p. 575. 


ODOUR OF THE HAYFIELDS. 141 


This odour has been compared to Hawthorn. More complete 
details of the method of manufacture are given under that head. 

The odour of coumarin is observed on heating Umbelliferon, 
Daphnetin, and Methylumbelliferon. 

Umbelliferon, C,H,O;, is a neutral glucoside, obtamed by the 
dry distillation of various resins, chiefly of those derived from 
umbelliferous plants. Crude galbanum yields 0°83 per cent., 
sagepanum 0°32, and asafcetida 0°28 per cent. It is likewise 
obtained from the resins of Sumbul root and Angelica root. It is 
also obtainable from the alcoholic extract of the bark of Daphne 
Mezereum (the spurge-laurel), which also contains daphnetin. 

Umbelliferon may be easily prepared from galbanum by boiling 
the crude gum with water, dissolving the resinous residue in 
milk of lime, and precipitating the filtered solution with hydro- 
chloric acid. By distillmg this purified resin with water, an oily 
distillate is obtained which, on standing, deposits crystals of um- 
belliferon, to be purified by recrystallization. Umbelliferon is 
also formed when a concentrated alcoholic solution of pure gal- 
banum resin saturated with hydrochloric-acid gas is heated for 
some time to 100°. Umbelliferon may be synthetically prepared 
by heating resorcinol and malic acid with sulphuric acid, the 
reaction corresponding to the formation of coumarin from malic 
acid and phenol. 

Umbelliferon forms colourless rhombic prisms having a faint 
silky lustre; it is tasteless, odorous when cold, dissolves very 
slightly im cold water, and very abundantly in boiling water. It 
also dissolves in alcohol and chloroform. The aqueous solution 
is colourless by transmitted light, but exhibits by reflected light a 
splendid blue fluorescence. When umbelliferon is warmed it 
emits an odour like coumarin. Its aqueous solution when boiled 
emits the same odour. It melts at 224°, sublimes below its 
melting-point, and volatilizes without residue. It dissolves in 
concentrated sulphuric acid without decomposition, the solution 
showing a dark blue fluorescence. 

Water and sodium amalgam convert it into hydro-umbceliic acid. 
By boiling with dilute acids or by the action of emulsion it is 
converted into glucose and daphnetin, CgH,O,*. 

Daphnetin has been obtained synthetically by heating pyro- 


* Ann. Chem. Pharm. cvi. p. 1. 


142 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


~ 


gallol and malic acid with sulphuric acid. It crystallizes from 
hot water in yellowish needles or prisms which melt at 255°-256° 
and smell like coumarin on heating. | 

Methylumbelliferon is formed when umbelliferon is heated with 
methyl iodide, caustic potash, and wood-spirit. It crystallizes in 
plates which have a strong odour of coumarin when heated, and 
melts at 114°*. Its boiling aqueous solution emits the same 


odour, 


* Tiemann and Reimer. 


VANILLA. 143 


CHAPTER, VIL 


VANILLA. 


THERE are several species and varieties of the Orchids producing 
this valuable bean. Delteuil* gives a list of the plants cultivated 
in various countries, from which it appears that in Mexico are 
found the V. planifolia (yielding the finest fruit), V. sativa, 
V. sylvestris, and V. pompona (with short thick fruit called 
“vanillon”), Guiana and Surinam produce the V. Guyanensis ; 
Bahia, V. palmarum; Brazil and Peru, V. aromatica (which is the 
least aromatic of all); Réunion, two sorts, which appear to be 
varieties of V. planifolia, the one usually called the small, the 
other the large vanilla, characterized by the stalk being thicker, 
the leaves much larger, the flowers larger and of a deeper yellow 
tint, the fruit thicker, shorter, and triangular; but this being of 
inferior aroma its cultivation has been almost generally aban- 
doned. 

In a paper communicated to the ‘ Société d’Emulation” by 
Jaillet t on the culture and preparation of Vanilla, the author infers, 
from the writings of various botanists on this subject, also from per- 
sonal observation, that the V. planifolia, V. sativa, and V. sylvestris 
are identical, the distinctive specific characters not being clear and 
decided, but depending upon the effects of age, climate, and 
vigorous growth. He concludes that although there really exist 
several species of Vanilla, and that there may be many varieties of 
the same species, all, or nearly all, the commercial vanilla is 
furnished by the V. planifolia. This would appear to be the 
opinion of the authors of the ‘ Pharmacographia,’ as V. planifolia 
alone is mentioned as the commercial source, but perhaps referring 
only to the products of Mexico and Réunion. According to 


* ‘Ktude sur la Vanille,’ Paris, 1874. 
t+ Répertoire de Pharmacie, viii. 357. 


144 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Bentley and Trimen (‘ Medicinal Plants’) there are several varieties 
of Vanilla found in commerce, as Mexican or Vera Cruz, Bourbon, 
Mauritius, Java, La Guayra, Honduras, Brazilian, &c., the finest 
being the Mexican, of which there are different qualities. They 
further state that these varieties of vanilla are doubtless derived 
from different species of the plant. The finest, as the Mexican, is 
commonly said to be the product of V. planifolia, Andrew, 
synonymous with V. claviculata, Swartz; V. sylvestris and 
V. sativa, Scheide; V. viridifolia, Blume; and Myrobroma 
fragrans, Salisbury +. Scheide, a writer on the botany of 
Mexico {, considered the V. sylvestris as probably a synonym 
of V. planifolia; but Morren states § that the exactness of that 
opinion is not clearly demonstrated, and declares that the 
writings of Blume||, Swartz §, Plumier**, and Desvaux tt 
merely render more difficult the question as to which species, 
varieties, and sorts are to be attributed the vanilla of commerce ; 
also that this question could only be solved by an experienced 
naturalist who should examine the plants in the localities where 
they actually grow, compare the different Jength, thickness, shape, 
colour, flavour, and value of the fruit yielded by each species and 
variety, and accompany the diagnosis with drawings made on the 
spot. This argument does not authorize Jaillet to quote Morren 
as an authority for stating that the whole of the commercial 
vanilla is derived from V. planifolia; Morren simply says that 
the finest vanilla closely resembles the fruit of that plant. 

Vanilla is also found on the west slope of the Cordilleras, in 
Java, Mauritius, Seychelles islands, Tahiti, Cochin-China, Ja- 
maica, Guadeloupe, St. Marie, Mayotte, and Madagascar. It is 
cultivated at Mysore, in India. The principal centre of the pro- 
duction is the littoral of the State of Vera Cruz, in the hot 
low-lying ground called the “ terra caliente,” also in the Mexican 

* ‘Botanist’s Repository,’ ii. p. 538. 

+ ‘Paradisus Londinensis,’ t. 82. 

t ‘ Botanische Berichte aus Mexico,’ 1820. 

§ Bulletins de l’Académie Royale de Belgique, xvii. 1° partie, p. 180. 

|| ‘Flor. Javee,’ Bijdragen, p. 422, and ‘ Rumphia,’ i. pp. 197-8. 

€| Nova Acta Upsal. vi. p. 66; Fl. Ind. Occid., and Schrader’s Journ. Bot. 
iy fig el 

** «Plantarum Americanum,’ and Catesby’s Hist. Nat. de la Caroline, iii. 
tab. 7. 

tf Annales des Scierces Naturelles, 3¢ série, 1846, p. 117. 


VANILLA. 145 


province of Oaxaca. It flourishes especially at Papantla, and such 
warm humid districts as Misantla, Jicaltepec near Nantla, Calipa, 
and Tuntla. Also in the States of Tabasco, Chiapas, and Yuca- 
tan. The Mexicans call this plant Telxochitl, and the Spaniards 
Baynilla. 

The writings of Kunth describe the vanilla plant as being found 
attached to trees and in the crevices of rocks in the hottest 
regions of Central America, in sheltered situations adjoining 
springs of water, on the banks of the Orinoco, near to Cari- 
chana, at the cataracts of Maypur and Atur, at Javita, and at 
Esmeralda; in New Andalusia near the Convent of Caripa, at 
San Fernando, Bardones and Carupano; in Venezuela, between 
Porto Cabello, Guayguaza, Aroa and Nueva Valencia; in the 
Valley of Capaya and near the promontory of Codera; in the 
Andes of New Grenada, Quito and Peru, near Turbaco, d’Almag- 
ner and Popayan; on the eastern slope of Mount Pichincha; in 
the valleys of Loxo and near the River Amazon, between Tome- 
penda and Jaen de Bracamoros ; in the island of Cuba, near 
Elmariel, Bahia, and in Honduras. 

A fine collection of many of the commercial varieties of vanilla 
has been lately completed at Kew, including samples from 
Réunion, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bahia, Mexico, and Java. A 
species of Vanilla from Tatia, New Granada, which has until 
recently remained unnamed in the Daniel Hanbury Herbarium at 
the Pharmaceutical Society, has been described by Rolfe from 
this specimen and from one in the Kew Herbarium as a new 
species under the name of Vanilla ensifolia, Rolfe. It is probably 
the source of some of the vanilla occasionally imported from 
South America. 

From a recent Consular Report (1892) by G. H. Portal, of 
Zanzibar, we learn that Vanilla has grown well and freely on the 
island wherever it has been planted. The priests of the French 
mission at Bagamayo, on the opposite coast, cultivate it exten- 
sively and reap a handsome profit. 

The culture and preparation of vanilla, requiring great care and 
management, are described by Jaillet in his paper above referred 
to as follows (some slight remarks from other authors being 
added, and one or two words corrected) :— 

In Mexico, plantations are established either in virgin forests 
or in open fields. In the former case it is necessary to cut down 


> 


BY 


146 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


all shrubs, climbers, and such large trees as would cause an excess 
of shade, leaving only young trees suitable to serve as supports to 
the plants. Preference is given to those containing a milky sap, 
as the orchid attaches itself to the bark by means of aérial roots 
(produced from the nodes), which are its veritable organs of nu- 
trition; the subterranean roots being very insignificant in 
comparison to the size of the plant. It is not uncommon to 
observe the gradual decay of the stalk near the root which is in 
the ground, and at the same time a remarkable development of 
the same stalk as it increases in length. Close to each tree, two 
cuttings are planted side by side in the following manner :—in a 
shallow trench about an inch anda half deep and fifteen or twenty 
inches long, is imbedded a cutting as far as three joints or eyes, 
the three leaves being first stripped off; the trench is then 
covered up with dried leaves, leaf-mould, coarse sand, brush-wood, 
&e. The bed should be slightly raised above the level of the soil 
in order to prevent a collection of stagnant water which might rot 
the plants. The remainder of the shoot, 3 or 4 feet long, is 
tied against the tree. The supporting trees should be quite 12 or 
15 feet apart to allow sufficient room for the development of the 
plant, the growth being very rapid. After a month the cuttings 
will have taken root, and must be carefully kept free from weeds 
and underwood of all kinds, In the third year these plants will 
commence to bear fruit. Planting takes place in the rainy 
season ; in default of sufficient rain, the cuttings must be fre- 
queutly watered. In the case when it is desirable to plant a field, 
plain, or low-lymg ground, the method in Mexico is first to 
thoroughly plough up the land and sow it with maize. While 
this is growing, a quantity of young lactescent trees, of the fig 
tribe, make their appearance over the field; these, after a year or 
eighteen months, are large enough to support the vanilla plants, 
which are set in the manner above described, and from them the 
finest product is obtained. 

There are five sorts of vanilla plants locally known in Mexico 
by the following names :— 

1. Vanilla coriente. This is held in greatest esteem for the 
quality of its pods, which are classed commercially into five 
classes, the first bemg long fleshy pods full of pulp and seed, and 
with a very fine skin; the second, called V. chicafina, about half 
the length of the preceding aud with a thick skin, not so fine in 


VANILLA. 147 


flavour, but still sometimes soid with it, also bearing the same 
vernacular name “lec,” “ leq,” or “ leg,” abbreviated from “ legi- 
timate.” The third sort is the V. sacata, having a finer cuticle 
than the first. The fourth, V. resecata, is small, dry, and only a 
fourth the length of the preceding. The fifth quality is called 
basura, and is a very inferior product. 

2. Vanilla sylvestris or simarona, a wild species, with smaller 
fruit than the coriente. This plant appears to be botanically 
identical with the coriente, but as it is found growing in dense 
woods, whose foliage deprives it of sunlight, its pods cannot de- 
velop. 

3. Vanilla mestiza (mestiza, meaning in English middle, medium, 
or average). This bears a rounder pod than other varieties. The 
green unripe pods are spotted with brown, and the ripe pods are 
very apt to split open. 

4. Vanilla puerca (La Porcine, Vanille cochon, Swine vanilla). 
This variety bears much smaller pods than those of V. coriente ; 
they are also rounder in form, of a darker green colour when un- 
ripe, and exhale an unpleasant odour during the process of curing 
—hence the name. 

5. Vanilla pompona. This plant bears a very thick short fruit 
covered with a very thin skin. When this fruit begins to dry it 
acquires a very fine perfume (recalling that of heliotrope). The 
perfume is, however, considered less sweet than that of the 
“ coriente,’” and it is apt to go off, or disperse by evaporation if 
tied in bundles alone, so it is sometimes packed up with the No. 1 
variety. It is comparatively low-priced, and is commercially 
designated “ Vanillon”’ in French. 

The method of cultivation adopted in the island of Réunion is 
different ; the plant being so trained that all the flowers may be 
within easy reach of the hand of the cultivator, not so much for 
facility of gathering the fruit as for the purpose of artificially in- 
oculating the flowers. The plantation may be started in the 
forest or in an open field. In the first case, the cuttings are set 
at the foot of trees, and the trunks are connected together trans- 
versely by sticks of wood or bamboo attached horizontally, so as 
to form a sort of trellis on which the plant can spread freely. In 
no case are the trees lopped to allow too much sun, for the plant 
loves a humid soil and is injured by the direct burning rays. It 
is under large trees that the vanilla plant is seen in its typical 

L2 


148 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


form, vigorous and richly productive. When an open field is 
selected as the site of a plantation, the necessary supports for 
the plant must first be grown. For this purpose mangoes and 
fig-trees are preferred, also the Jatropha Curcas, the tree pro- 
ducing the “ physic-nut,’ which strikes readily from cuttings, is 
of rapid growth, and furnishes an abundance of lactescent juice, 
well suited to supply the necessary nourishment to the vanilla 
plant. (There is, however, a possible danger of the acrid matter 
contained in the Jatropha Curcas being absorbed by the parasite 
plant *.) 

When these young trees have attained a size sufficient to afford 
the necessary shade, cuttings of the orchid are set in the following 
manner :—Between the trees and following the lines in which 
they are planted, a trench 8 inches deep is dug, the cuttings are 
placed in it and covered with a little leaf-mould, dry leaves, and 
straw. The rainy season is preferred for this operation, as success 
in striking the cuttings depends essentially on moisture and shade. 
When the young shoots begin to grow, they only need to be 
guided and spread along the trellises previously arranged to receive 
them, and to allow the adventive roots to connect with the trench 
between the supporting trees. Jn two years the plantation is in 
full bearing. 

The following cultural instructions were contributed by David 
de Floris, of Réunion, to the ‘ Journal of the Agricultural 
Society of India’ +:—The cuttings must have at least three 
knots, but may have more according to the disposition of the 
protecting trees, or the shade which they can give. All trees are 
good as protectors with the exception of those which change their 
bark ; the best are the Maugoe-tree, the blackwood (Acacia 
Lebbeck), the Dragon-tree (Dracenu Draco, or Pterocarpus Draco), 
the Jack-treet, the Ouatier (Bombax Malabaricum), and the Pignon 
dInde (Jatropha Curcas); but this last should not be planted 
alone, on account of its shedding its leaves when the vanilla plants 
are in bearing, the sun then strikimg upon the vanillas and on 
their pods, being very injurious to both. It is necessary to plant 
the “ Pignon d’Inde” between the Dragon-trees and the Ouatier 
or other trees, the leaves of which may serve to shade it as well 
as the vanilla plant, to which it only serves for a protection 


* Vide Pharm. Journ. [3] xi. p. 480. t Vol xi. part iv. 
{ Artocarpus integrifolia, L. 


VANILLA, 149 


during a certain period of the year. The protecting trees ought 
to be planted six feet apart, in rows from east to west. They 
should be occasionally pruned, so as to produce a ha/f-shade or 
chequered shade, and they should be sufficiently grown to produce 
this demi-jour before the vanillas are planted. In case, however, 
one should require to plant before the necessary shade exists, the 
plants should be surrounded with paim leaves in preference, and 
watered much more often than if they had their natural shade ; 
the cuttings should be planted at the side of the supporting tree 
opposed to the sun. The longer the cutting, the more knots must 
be put into the ground; one knot when the cutting has three, 
two when it has four, and four or five knots when long creepers 
are planted. These cuttings should be laid in the ground the 
tendrils towards the tree, and well fixed with one, two, or several 
flat ties according to their length. They should not be tied with 
round string, which would eventually strangle the plants, but with 
a sort of bast or fibre from the leaf of the Pandanus vacoa. 
Mauure to the cuttings would be hurtful, but rooted plants may 
be manured with rotted dung if the soil be poor. Vegetable ma- 
nure composed of rotted leaves is preferable to dung, being less 
heating ; but the stuff must be well rotted, as the young roots are 
very tender and delicate. Watering in the first few days after plant- 
ing is always an absolute necessity, particularly in a dry locality. 
Plants put in in the middle of the cold season languish, lose their 
buds, and often perish. The earth should be trodden down on 
each plant after havicg been watered. ‘The plantation should not 
be made very near the sea-shore unless protected by trees from 
the direct action of the salt air blowing over the plants, as such 
would render them poor and sickly. A ground sloping to the 
west is preferable, as permitting more warmth to the plants and 
less exposure to the wind. It is advised to manure the plants 
once a year, a little before the flowering-season, and to cover the 
manure with stones to prevent its evaporation ; the stones also 
serving to keep the roots cool, and prevent the rains washing the 
earth away. ‘Too much shade, or shade badly applied, seem 
almost as prejudicial to a good crop as the other extreme of ex- 
posure. Pods which have been too much shaded are long, soft, 
thin, and difficult to ripen ; whereas, on the contrary, when they 
are sufficiently exposed to the sun they are fat, round, firm, and 
contain much more flavour. 


150 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


No plant should be allowed to bear too freely, the quality and 
size of the pods suffer thereby. The pruning out of pods should 
be performed after the fruit is fairly set, and should be propor- 
tioned to the age aud health of the creeper ; not more than tive or 
six pods being allowed on a single cluster. A plant of three or 
four years’ growth has hundreds of blossoms thereon, but the 
quantity of pods taken from the same should not be more than 
will yield half a pound of dried produce. 

Of course in its native place of growth, the method of propaga- 
ting by striking young shoots of three feet or so in length is the 
most rapid method; but stock could probably be reared from 
seed taken from pods which have matured naturally by being left 
on the plant ; such pods split open and drop some of their seed. 


Fecundation of the Flower. 


In the flower of the vanilla the male organ is separated from 
the female organ by the light membranous skin of the labellum 
(the upper lip of the stigmatic orifice), this totally covering the 
female organ, and as the anther rests on that valve of the stigma, 
it is evident that notwithstanding the dehiscence of the anther, 
the orifice which allows passage of the pollen is closed by the 
labellum, thus rendering spontaneous fecundation comparatively 
rare. It does, however, sometimes occur, and may be attributed 
to the passage of a winged insect in search of food, or to the 
action of the wind detaching the pollen from the anther ; but it 
seems more rational to suppose that the brush-shaped appendage 
on the labellum is solely intended for the purpose of collecting 
the pollen and then depositing it on the stigma at the moment 
when the flower begins to droop and fade. Still, the natural 
fecundation ‘is a rare occurrence, for in Guiana, Mexico, and all 
other countries where the plant is left to itself, it has been ob- 
served that a length of 12 to 26 inches of vine will only produce 
one pod, the number of flowers growing on such length of stalk 
being about forty, all of which can be artificially fecundated. ‘The 
flowers are produced in clusters in the axils of the leaves, A 
plant in full health and strength may produce as many as two 
hundred clusters at a time, each cluster consisting of from fifteen 
to twenty flowers. A single plant, therefore, may bear three or 


— 


VANILLA. 15k 


A. Gynostemium, enlarged. 

B. Sertion of ditto before the operation, showing the pollen in the anther. 
(. Ditto ditto after the operation, showing the pollen in the stigma. 

D. First part of the operation. 

E. Second part of the operation. 


152 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


four thousand flowers. The flowers in a cluster expand one after 
the other, and only last a day. By some cultivators it is thought 
desirable not to fertilize more than two or three flowers in each 
cluster, and to select for the operation the largest and finest flowers ; 
these are generally to be found amongst those which are the first 
to open. (Other cultivators fertilize five or six flowers.) If this 
rule be observed, it will be found that the quality of the pods will 
largely compensate for the quantity which might be obtained by 
fertilizing a larger number of flowers. 

The old process for performing the operation of artificial fecun- 
dation consisted in cutting the labellum which is the obstacle to 
the natural process, but this plan was not always successful ; and it 
was improved upon by a Creole slave, who discovered that a more 
rapid and sure way was to lift up or tear away the labellum from 
beneath the anther, and so bring that organ in direct contact 
with the stigma. mn this way it is possible to obtain more than 
3500 pods on a single plant, but such a demand on the plant 
would cause it to perish before the fruit could mature ; therefore, 
as before observed, it is advisable to fecundate only the finest 
flowers on each bunch, selecting those which present a large fleshy 
peduncle. It is an ascertained fact that the handsomest fruit are 
produced from the first flowers, but the best fruit from the last 
flowers which open on each bunch. Fecundation is assured when 
the flower is persistent, and dries at the extremity of the fruit. 
This result obtained, the remainder of the bunch with all its 
buds should be cut off. 

The flowers of the vanilla begin to appear in June, and are 
fecundated up to September. (In India from February to April.) 
The fecundation should be made from 8 to 9 o’clock in the 
morning till 3 in the afternoon, and the earlier the better. The 
operation should be done with great care, using as little force as 
possible. The instrument employed is simply either a small 
bamboo about 3 inches long, cut very thin and rounded off at 
one end, or the dorsal rib of the leaves of palms, cocoaauts, or 
latanias (these are Réunion palms). With anything like the point 
of a penknife the danger of wounding the delicate organs of the 
flower is incurred. The operation is quite simple, and may be 
executed with great rapidity by a light and practised hana, An 
expert will fertilize as many as a thousand flowers and upwards in 
the course of a forenoon. The rule is as follows :—Seize the base 


VANILLA. 153 


of the flower between the thumb and middle finger of the left 
hand, placing the forefinger on the back of the gynostemium to 
support it. Or, between the fore and middle fingers of the left 
hand, held horizontally, place the three upper petals of the flower, 
raising the thumb and keeping it close to the anther. Now, with 
the little instrument held in the right hand, tear the piece of the 
corolla resembling a hood, in order to expose the organs of fecun- 
dation. The end of the instrument is then introduced under the 
upper valve or operculum of the female organ. When this oper- 
culum is completely raised, straight up, the stamen, which at first 
rises with it, tends to return to its original position, bending 
towards the female organ ; this inclination must now be assisted 
with the thumb of the left hand, lightly pressing the stamen 
against the stigma, to which it will adhere. Nothing now 
remains to be done but gently to withdraw the instrument, and 
the flower is fertilized. If, at the end of the third day, the flower, 
which begins to wither immediately after the operation, maintains 
its position on the summit of the ovary, the operation has been 
successful, 


Harvesting the Fruit. 


The fecundated flower decays and dries at the extremity of the 
ovary, and after a few days falls off, leaving the persistent 
gynostem attached to the fruit, which continues to grow for a 
month, but must be left on the stem for six months longer to 
allow it toripencompletely. The first pods to ripen are generally 
inferior to those which mature later. It is most important that 
pods should not be gathered before they arrive at the proper stage 
of ripeness, otherwise they ferment and rot in a few months after 
preparation. The end of the pod begins to turn yellow when it 
is approaching ripeness, but the only certain indication of maturity 
is the crackling sound produced when the pod is pinched between 
the fingers. It is quite as important to avoid gathering the fruit 
too late as too early ; if over-ripe it is apt to split on the stalk ; and 
if not so found, it will split in the curing. It is advisable to visit 
the plantation frequently when the time for ripening approaches 
and pluck the pods from day to day as they reach the required 
degree of maturity, and not detach the entire bunch as is done in 
some countries. 


Some precaution is required in separating the pods from the 


154 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


stem. The fruit should be grasped with the right hand towards 
the but-end, and removed from the stem by a gentle twist from 
right to left. Some persons take the pod by the middle or by the 
end and draw it roughly towards them ; when so treated it often 
breaks or the entire bunch is detached from the tree with the pods 
‘still unripe. Other persons gather it by pinching it off with the 
nails, but then the but-end no longer existing prevents uniformity 
in the packets and raises difficulties for the sale. 


Curing the Fruit. 


The odour of vanilla does not exist in the fruit as it is gathered, 
but is developed by a process of fermentation in the curing. 
When a pod is allowed to fully ripen on the plant it splits into 
two unequal parts, becoming first yellow, then brown, and finally 
black. While it is drying it exudes an unctuous liquid of a dark 
red colour, called balsam of vanilla, and when quite dry the pod 
becomes brittle and devoid of all perfume. 

The following are the various processes for curing vanilla and 
preparing it for the market :— 

Guiana process.—The beans are placed in ashes, and there left 
till they begin to shrivel; they are then wiped, rubbed over with 
olive oil, and their lower end having been tied they are left to 
dry in the open air. 

Peruvian process.—The beans are dipped into boiling water, 
tied at the end, and hung in the open air. After drying twenty 
days they are lightly smeared over with castor oil, and a few days 
afterwards tied up into bundles. 

Mexican process.—As soon as gathered the beans are placed in 
heaps under a shed protecting them from sun and rain, and in a 
few days, when they begin to shrivel, are submitted to the 
“sweating” process; this is carried on in two different ways 
according to the state of the weather. If it happens to be warm 
and fine the beans are spread out in the early morning on a 
woollen blanket and exposed to the direct rays of the sun. At 
about midday, or one in the afternoon, the blanket is folded around 
them, and the bundle is left in the sun for the remainder of the 
day. In the evening all the vanilla is enclosed in air-tight boxes 
so that it may sweat the whole night. The next day the beans 
are again exposed to the direct action of the sun; they then 
acquire a dark coffee-colour, the shade being a deeper brown in 


VANILLA. 155 


proportion to the success of the sweating operation. Should the 
weather be cloudy, the vanillais made into bundles, and a number 
of these are packed together in a small bale, which is first wrapped 
in a woollen cloth, then in a coating of banana leaves, and finally 
the whole is enclosed in a thick matting and sprinkled with water. 
The bales containing the largest beans are now placed in an oven — 
heated to 60° C. (140° F.). When the temperature of the oven 
has fallen to 45° C. (118° F.) the smaller beans are introduced, 
and the oven closed tightly. Twenty-four hours afterwards the 
smaller beans are taken out, and twelve hours later the larger 
ones. During this process the vanilla has sweated and acquired a 
fine chestnut colour. The delicate operation of drying has now 
to be commenced : the beans are spread on matting and exposed 
every day to the sun during nearly two months; when the drying 
is nearly complete sun-heat is no longer needed, and the beans are 
spread out in a dry place until the necessary degree of desiccation 
is arrived at. Finally they are tied in small bundles for the 
market. 

Réunion process.—The beans are sorted according to length before 
being subjected to the treatment. The long ones are steeped in 
water at 90° C. (194° F.) during ten seconds, the medium size 
during fifteen seconds, and the short ones fully a minute. They 
are then exposed to the sun between woollen blankets daily until 
two or three o’clock in the afternoon until they acquire the cha- 
racteristic chestnut colour. After this exposure, which may last 
from six to eight days, the beans are spread out under sheds to 
dry gradually. The sheds in this colony being roofed with zinc, 
they really constitute drying-closets, through which a current of 
hot air continually circulates. This desiccation takes about a 
month, during which time the only care necessary is to turn the 
beans frequently, so that they dry evenly. At the moment when 
it is found that the beans may be twisted easily round the finger 
without cracking—that is to say, when they have acquired a 
degree of dryness which can be judged only by experience, a fresh 
operation is commenced which requires the most minute and vigi- 
lant care; this is termed the smoothing process. The operator 
must pass every bean between his fingers repeatedly, for, on drying, 
the beans exude from their entire surface a natural fatty oil. It 
is to this oil, which exudes as the fermentation proceeds, that the 
lustre and suppleness of the bean is due. When the beans are 


156 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


sufficiently dry they are tied into bundles, each of them being 
composed of iifty pods of uniform length. In this manner three 
commercial sorts are obtained, and termed as follows :—1. “ Fine 
vanilla,’ 8 to 11 inches long, very dark brown or nearly black, 
unctuous, glossy and clean-looking, and finely furrowed in a 
longitudinal direction. These soon become covered with an abund- 
ance of the frost-like efflorescent crystals technically called “givre.” 
2. “ Woody vanilla,” 6 to 8 inches long, lighter in colour, more 
or less spotted with grey, not glossy. These are generally the 
produce of pods gathered in an unripe state. They frost or 
“ givre” very little, if at all. 3. “ Vanillons,” of which there 
are two sorts, those obtained from short but ripe fruit, which are 
excellent and frost well, and those from abortive and unripe fruit, 
whose perfume is simply the result of absorption from the fine 
beans with which they have so long been in contact. 

There are modifications of these processes, but they do not 
materially differ. Of course under different climatic conditions 
different modes of curing are adopted, but the sweating or fermen- 
tation must be effected by one means or another. 

The finished product being sorted and tied up into bundles 
according to the length of the pods, is finally packed into tin 
boxes of different dimensions according to the length of the 
bundles ; each box containing 10 to 12 kilogrammes ; no paper 
or wrapper whatever being enclosed, as such might be injurious 
to the preservation of the pods. ‘The boxes are soldered up and 
labled according to the quality of the contents. 

Adulteration.—Vanilla is subject to frequent falsification. It 
is sometimes found that the greater part of the odoriferous prin- 
ciple has been abstracted by alcohol, and an inferior odour sub- 
stituted by rubbing the pods with Balsam of Peru. The pods are 
sometimes even filled with sand and other matters to give them 
weight, and it is not an uncommon fraud to dust them over with 
benzoic acid to imitate the fine qualities which are naturally frosted 
with the crystals of vanillin which form on them, 


Aromatic Principles. 

The fruit of the vanilla, whether matured by nature on the plant 
or finished by artificial process, exhales one of the finest odours 
produced in the vegetable kingdom. Some odours may be cited 
which somewhat recall it, as those of the Pothos odoratissima, 
Heliotropium Peruvianum, Eryobotrya Japonica, Tonka bean, An- 


VANILLA. 157 


grecum fragrans, Capparis spinosa, Cereus grandiflora, and Ces- 
trum vespertinum, but in an inferior degree, also strongly in the 
flowers of Azara microphylla*. 

In the green state the pod consists of an acid pulp containing 
raphides in needles, and crystals of oxalate of lime (these bodies 
being also found in the stalk and leaves); the pods also contain 
a citron-coloured oil surrounding the seeds. When this oil is iso- 
lated by ether, it is found to possess an odour somewhat similar to 
that which the bean will furnish at maturity. As maturity pro- 
gresses, the lower end of the pod begins to turn yellow and dis- 
engage a characteristic penetrating odour recalling that of bitter 
almonds; the valves of the pod crack open and permit the escape 
of a small quantity of a balsamic oil. By degrees the colour 
darkens, the epidermis softens, and the true odour of vanilla begins 
to develop. This natural fermentation gradually progressing up 
the pod, the proportion of balsamic oil increases and exudes in 
thick reddish drops, especially if the split pod has been tied together 
at the end. ‘This oil is known by the name of Balsam of Vanilla, 
and in Peru it is very carefully collected by the planters, but not 
sent to Europe. The ripening process, thus slowly progressing 
upwards, does not reach the top or stalk part until about a month. 
The chemical changes which have meanwhile taken place inside 
the pod, through the combined action of the air and the sun, 
remains a secret process guarded by Nature. 

Some chemists are of opinion that the odorous principle is loca- 
lized in the centre of the fruit, in proximity to the seeds and the 
placenta, but others think that the entire fruit is concerned in its 
formation, as it undergoes such great changes. 

The artificial methods of hastening the maturity, either by hot 
water or by the exposure to sun-heat or stove-heat, have for object 
the production of a uniform ripening of the pod over its entire 
length all at once, and not by degrees up the pod as happens in 
nature. The artificial processes also prevent the splitting of the 
pod and consequent loss of perfume which occurs when the pod is 
left on the vine, 

The yivre or crystals which form on good vanilla were formerly 
thought to be benzoic acid, but the researches of Gobley disclosed 
the fact that they are quite a different body, which he termed 
Vanillin. The conditions favourable for its formation are: pre- 


—*® Described by Dean Hole, in his ‘A Book about the Garden,’ p. 234, as a 
hardy shrub. 


158 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


servation of the beans in a dry place and in a box which is not 
hermetically sealed; also the removal from a warm locality to a 
cold one, which occurs when the produce is sent from the West 
Indies to Europe. The Réunion vanilla becomes frosted with 
crystals in about two months from the time of its preparation ; 
being soldered up in tin boxes in the colony, it is found frosted 
when the boxes are opened on their arrival in France. These 
crystals assume two distinct forms :—they appear either in very 
thin lamine or (which is generally the case) in needles so extremely 
fine and so close together as to appear like a minute hoary moul- 
diness or tufts of cotton—an aspect which, until the cause was 
understood, depreciated the value, but which is known to indicate 
the finest quality, or the ripest and most perfumed beans. VWanillin 
exists in the ripe fruit, but only appears on the surface under con- ' 
ditions favourable to its efflorescence. 

The reactions distinguishing vanillin from benzoic acid are :— 
Sesquichloride of iron gives to vanillin a dark violet coloration ; 
cold sulphuric acid gives to it a green coloration, and the hot acid 
colours it red. 


Quantitative Estimation of Vanillin in Vanilla-pods. 


The following method was devised by Tiemann and Haarman, 
and is abstracted from a paper read by them before the Berlin 
Chemical Society *. It is based upon the fact that vanillin, in 
common with other aldehydes, combines with acid sulphites of the 
alkalies to form compounds which are readily decomposable by 
acids. Vanillin being the only aldehyde present in vanilla, it is 
isolated without difficulty :— 

‘30 to 50 grams of vanilla cut small are placed with 1 to 14 litre 
of ether in a large stoppered bottle and left in contact during from 
6 to 8 hours, being frequently shaken. The clear liquid is then 
decanted off and filtered through a plaited filter into a large flask. 
A fresh quantity of 800 to 1000 ce. c. of ether is introduced into the 
stoppered bottle, shaken very frequently, and, after from 1 to 2 
hours, filtered. The operation is repeated for a third time with 500 
to 600 c.c. of ether. The now exhausted-fragments of vanilla are 
thrown upon the filter with the very last portion of the third quan- 
tity of ether, and then washed with a small quantity of fresh ether. 
After this treatment the fragments of vanilla are absolutely taste- 


* Ber. der Deutsch. chem. Ges. viii. p. 1115, and Pharm. Journ. [5] vi. p. 603, 


VANILLA, 159 


less and odourless, so that it may be inferred that the whole of the 
vanillin has passed into solution. The united ethereal extracts are 
now distilled from the flask upon a water-bath to 150 or 200 ec. c. 
The residue is placed in a tall narrow stoppered glass, then 200 c. c. 
of a mixture of equal parts of water and a nearly saturated solution 
of acid sodium sulphite added, and the closely-stoppered vessel 
shaken during from 10 to 20 minutes. It is necessary to open the 
flask from time to time, especially at the commencement of the 
shaking, and during the operation to hold the stopper firmly to 
prevent loss of the liquid. 

“ After the yellow-coloured ethereal layer and the almost colour- 
less solution have become sharply defined, they are separated from 
one another by means of a stoppered separating-funnel. The ether 
is returned to the stoppered flask and again well shaken for five or 
ten minutes with 50 c. c. of a concentrated solution of acid sodium 
sulphite and 50 c. c. of water. The aqueous solution is separated 
as before, and placed with the result of the former operation in a 
clean stoppered vessel, This saline solution, which contains all the 
vanillin, is now shaken for a short time with 180 to 200 c. c. of 
pure ether, in order perfectly to remove a small quantity of impu- 
rities derived from the original ethereal extract. After the ether 
has been again separated, the saline solution is poured into a large 
flask with a long, but not too wide, neck, The neck is closed with 
a cork pierced in three places. Through the middle hole passes a 
funnel-tube, reaching nearly to the bottom and dipping into the 
solution. A second tube, equally long, connects the flask with the 
steam apparatus or a vessel of boiling water. The third tube, for 
carrying off the sulphurous acid evolved, passes from the underside 
of the cork to a vessel containing soda-crystals and water. An 
empty wash-bottle should be introduced between this vessel and 
the flask to retain a small quantity of the solution that may be 
carried over from the flask. By using such an apparatus, the 
decomposition of the alkaline acid sulphite can be effected without 
inconvenience from the sulphurous acid evolved. Dilute sulphuric 
acid, in the proportion of 150 c. c. of a mixture of three volumes 
of concentrated sulphuric acid with five volumes of water to each 
100 e. c. of acid sulphite solution, is poured gradually through the 
funnel-tube, and when the consequent evolution of sulphurous acid 
becomes less, steam is introduced to remove it as completely as 
possible, 

** As soon as the wash-bottle becomes much moistened on the 


160 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


inner side, the operation is stopped. When cooled, the contents 
of the flask are removed into a well-stoppered bottle, and shaken 
three or four times with not too small quantities of ether (from 
400 to 600 c.c.) ; the ether takes up all the vanillin present. The 
ethereal extracts are separated from the aqueous solution and dis- 
tilled together from a large flask, down to 15 or 20 c.c. The last 
part of the operation is conducted very cautiously, the temperature 
of the contents of the flask being raised with a little steam to a 
point not beyond 50° or 60° C. The residue, which is of a faint 
yellow colour, is placed in a weighed watch-glass, washed carefully 
with pure ether, and the ether allowed to completely evaporate at 
the ordinary temperature. If the operation has been properly 
conducted, and especially if a too strong heating of the concen- 
trated vanillin solution has been avoided, pure crystals of vanillin 
are formed, melting at 81°C. These are dried over sulphuric acid 
until they no longer lose weight. The solution of acid sulphite of 
sodium can be recovered. 

«The above process may also be used for the detection of adulte- 
ration of vanilla, by perfuming it with such substances as benzoin 
&e. These remain behind in the ethereal extract after the removal 
of the vanillin, and may then be easily recognized.” 

Vanillin—The results of the analyses made by Tiemann and 
Haarman * show the proportion of vanillin in various pods to be as 
follows :— 


MPEXICAN, 
1. First quality. Harvest 1873.......... 1:69 per cent. 
2:3) 1% + of) STA. a scene 186 * 
3. Medium ,, 5 ee 1:32 9 
Bovurpon. 
1. Wrest: quality. “Harvest 1874%.7.. >. ee 2°48 per cent. 
Zee 3s, 7 if jy Nag tite 1‘91 3 
3. ” ” ” 59. sega feveheyaie aue 9:90 ” 
Aas 3 pn A8TOn scene 1:97 ip 
0. 5, ” ” rR ein oe 2°45 = 
6. Medium _,, a sa tape rebel Teas hehe ke LA9 3 
7. Inferior _,, 95° LSTA oooerne 1:55 35 
8. 4 ¥ 99 «UBB ee den eaves O75 as 
JAVA. 
1, First quality. Harvest 1873.......... 2°75 per cent. 
2, Medium ,, oy. ASHE: Acumen 1°56 a 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. viii. p. 1118, & ix. p. 1287. 


VANILLA. 161 


The appearance, more or less fine, by which various qualities are 
commercially distinguished is far from being a sure indication of 
richness in vanillin. The “ best” qualities contain on the average 
1°5 to 2°5 per cent. According to these eminent authorities, vanilla 
contains no other aromatic principle but vanillin and a little vanillic 
acid, but. after what has been remarked about “ balsam of vanilla” 
their statement is open to considerable doubt; and it is doubtful 
whether vanillin, which is now manufactured artificially on a large 
scale, will ever beat vanilla-pods out of the market *. 

The practice of estimating the value of vanilla by the amount of 
vanillin actually existing in it has been criticised by a German 
chemist t, by reason that “good fresh vaniila may be devoid 
throughout of crystalline matter, though it contain another body 
from which vanillin is ultimately formed” (a glucoside),—thus 
confirming the opinion of other observers ¢ that the chemical 
changes which develop the full odour of the fruit take place not 
only during its preparation for the market, but continue in action 
for some time after the pods are tied up in bundles. 

Vanillm also occurs m Siam benzoin §, in asafcetida |!, and 
frequently in small quantities in beet-sugar €, as the beet-sugar 
contains coniferin, which has been found, together with vanillin, 
in asparagus**. 

The West-Indian Vanilla, called “ Vanillon,” exhibits different 
characters, its odour strongly resembling that of a dilute solution 
of piperonal. It contains from 0-4 to 0°7 per cent. of vanillin to 
which there obstinately adheres an oily substance, probably another 
aldehyde; the oil absorbed from it by bibulous paper smells not 
like piperonal, but like bitter-almond oil. The vanillic acid pre- 
pared from “ vanillon”’ was contaminated with another substance, 
probably benzoic acid. The strong heliotrope-like odour of vanillon 
is perhaps due to vanillin mixed with a small quantity of benzal- 
dehyde; but yet it is surprising that when asmall quantity of oil of 
bitter almonds is added to a solution of pure vanillin, the individual 
odours of the two oils are obstinately and persistently manifest for 

* The Mexican crop of 1890-91 was the largest grown. The Réunion crop, 
from 3000 acres of land, was 506,462 Ibs., as against 462,660 Ibs. in 1888, and 
417,230 lbs. in 1887. (Am. Journ. Pharm. June 1892.) 

+ C. Rump, ‘ Studien tiber Benzoé.’ Hanover, 1878. 

¢ Bentley and Trimen’s Med. Plants. 
< § Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges, xi. p. 1635. || Ibid. xix. p. 705. 

q Ibid. xiii. pp. 335, 662. ** Ibid. xvi. p. 44, xviii. p. 3335. 
M 


162 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


a Jong time, each being clearly distinguishable, and it is only 
after several months of contact that they unite or blend into a 
single odour, which is that of heliotrope. 

Vanillin forms white needles, generally occurring in stellate 
aggregates, which possess a very strong taste and smell of vanilla. 
It melts at 80°-81°, sublimes readily, boils at 285° C. without 
decomposition when heated in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, 
and dissolves in 90 to 100 parts of water at 14° and in 20 parts at 
75°-80°. It is scarcely soluble in cold, more readily in hot petro- 
leum spirit. Its aqueous solution is coloured bluish violet by ferric 
chloride; if this solution be heated, white needles of dihydro- 
vanillin separate out. 

Glucovanillin is formed by the oxidation of coniferin with a 
dilute solution of chromic acid. It is readily decomposed by 
emulsin into grape-sugar and vanillin. 

Vanillin is frequently adulterated with benzoic acid to a very 
large extent. Upon treating such a mixture with dilute solution 
of sodium carbonate, the benzoic acid is dissolved and can be pre- 
cipitated from the solution by adding excess of water; or the 
filtrate, after neutralization with hydrochloric acid, will give with 
ferric chloride a red-brown precipitate of ferric benzoate. The 
acid, or the benzoate, can be reduced by means of sulphuric acid 
and magnesium ribbon to benzaldehyde, which is recognizable by 
its characteristic odour of bitter almonds *, 

Vanillin should be stored in well-stoppered bottles, as by ex- 
posure to a damp atmosphere it is converted into vanillic acid, 
which, when pure, is odourless. In the natural state as it exists 
in the pods the aromatic resmous substances with which it is in 
contact help to prevent this change; but it is always advisable to 
keep the pods in well-stoppered glass jars. 


Artificial Vanillin. 

The crystalline coating of vanilla pods (givre de vanille) was first 
prepared artificially by Tiemann and Haarmann from Coniferin 
(C,,H,,0,), which occurs in the cambium sap of the fir-tree and is 
decomposed by emulsin in the presence of water into grape-sugar 
and the compound C,,H,,0;, forming odourless crystals which, 
after standing in the air for some time, have a faint smell of vanilla. 
The investigators therefore oxidized coniferin with chromic acid, 


* Deutsch. Amerik, Apotheker-Zeitung, July 1888, p. 103, 


VANILLA. 163 


and thus obtained vanillin. The elaborate and important original 
paper * was abstracted in French in the ‘Comptes Rendus’ of the 
French Academy, Ixxviii. p. 1365, and in English in the Pharma- 
ceutical Journal, [3] iv. p. 996. 

Among the numerous glucosides of vegetable origin there is one, 
Coniferin, which for a long time escaped the notice of chemists 
and physiologists, although it is found in considerable quantity in 
the members of one of the most widely distributed orders of plants. 
This body was first found in 1861 in the juice of the cambium of 
the Larix Europea by Hartig, who for that reason called it 
“Taricin.” Afterwards, its presence being recognized in the 
cambium of all the pines, the name of ‘“ Abietin ”’ was conferred 
upon it. Finally, as it appeared to exist in all the Conifer, Kubel, 
who was the first to study it chemically, with the consent of Hartig 
again changed the name to Coniferin. 

Coniferin may be prepared in the following manner. At the 
time of the formation of the wood, in the spring or early summer, 
such conifers as Abies excelsa and A, pectinata, Pinus strobus and 
P. cembra, Larix Europea, etc., are felled, and the trunks are 
sawn into several pieces and afterwards barked. The juice of the 
cambium is collected by scraping the wood with a sharp instrument, 
such as a piece of glass. This juice is boiled and filtered to elimi- 
nate albuminous matters, then evaporated to about one fifth its 
original volume. After a time it deposits brown-coloured crystals, 
which are pressed, purified, and decolorized by repeated recrys- 
tallizations and treatment with animal charcoal. The greater part 
of the impurities may be removed by treating the brown solution 
of coniferin, whilst still warm, with small quantities of acetate of 
lead and ammonia; the resinous and colouring matters being pre- 
cipitated whilst the coniferin remains in solution. Excess of 
acetate of lead may be easily removed by means of a current of 
carbonic-acid gas. Coniferin is slightly soluble in cold water, 
more soluble in hot water and in alcohol, but is not soluble in ether. 
It crystallizes upon cooling in white, transparent, brilliant, sharp- 
pointed crystals. These crystals become opaque and dull in con- 
tact with air, losing part of their water of crystallization, which is 
driven off completely at 100°C. The aqueous solution of coniferin 
is bitter, levogyrous, and does not reduce Fehling’s solution, even 
after prolonged boiling. Moistened with carbolic acid or concen- 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges, 1874, p. 608. 


‘164 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


trated hydrochloric acid, after some time coniferin acquires an 
intense blue colour; in the sunlight this coloration is almost in- 
stantaneous. It is upon this reaction that the use of pne-wood as 
a test for carbolic acid is based. 

In order to determine the chemical constitution of coniferin, the 
investigators sought first to determine the nature of the products 
resulting from its decomposition with elimination of glucose. 
Dilute hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, aided by heat, splits it up 
into a resinous matter and glucose; but the properties of the 
resinous matter so obtained not appearing sufficiently definite, it 
was determined to effect the decomposition by fermentation by 
means of emulsin. For this purpose 50 grammes of pure coniferin 
were placed in 500 grammes of water, 0°2 to 0°3 gramme of dry 
emulsin added and the mixture kept at a temperature between 
25° and 26° C. The action commenced immediately, and in a few 
hours the presence of glucose in the liquor could be detected. The 
undissolved crystals of coniferin gradually disappeared and in their 
place were deposited at the bottom of the vessel white flocks, which 
were distinguishable from coniferin by their solubility in ether. 
After six or eight days the process of fermentation terminated, and 
by that time the bottom of the vessel was covered by a thick layer 
of this crystalline matter, the supernatant liquor being clear and 
slightly coloured. The liquor containing the precipitate was 
shaken with ether, which removed the flocks, and upon evaporation 
left a residue of well-formed white prismatic crystals. Sometimes, 
however, it left an oily residue, from which crystals were obtained 
upon cooling by a freezing-mixture. The crystals were pressed 
between filtering-paper and purified by recrystallization from ether. 
The aqueous solution, having had any remaining emulsin removed 
by coagulation by heat and filtering, was found to contain in 
solution only glucose and possible slight traces of undecomposed 
coniferin. The pure crystalline product, when recently prepared, is 
quite inodorous, but by exposure to the air graduatly acquires a 
feeble odour of vanilla. The pure product was reduced to fine 
powder and triturated with water, sulphuric acid and potassium 
dichromate in solution added, and the mixture distilled. At first 
a liquid smelling strongly of ethylic aldehyde was obtained; the 
next portions did not present this character, but were strongly acid 
and diffused a well-characterized odour of vanilla. From these 
portions of the distillate, ether removed a body which crystallized 


VANILLA, 163 


in stellate groups of crystals, possessing in a high degree the odour 
and taste of vanilla. 

Operating in this way the yield was very small, in consequence 
of the rapid resinification of the decomposition-product under the 
influence of the sulphuric acid, and in this state it was only slowly 
and partially attacked by the oxidizing mixture. It was found 
more easy and advantageous to operate directly upon coniferin. 
This was done by pouring an aqueous solution of coniferin into a 
warm mixture of potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid, and 
heating the whole together for several hours in a flask connected 
with an inverted condenser. After cooling, the liquid was filtered 
to remove a little resinous matter which was deposited, and then 
agitated with ether. Upon evaporating off this solvent a yellowish 
oil was obtained, which, after some days, formed a crystalline mass. 
By re-crystallizing this from hot water, and decolorizing with animal 
charcoal, fine crystals were obtained, identical in all respects with 
vanillin produced by nature *. 

In the course of the investigations made by Tiemann and Haar- 
mann in the laboratory of Dr. Hofmann at Berlin, it was found 
that on fusion with caustic potash, vanillin is converted into proto- 
catechuic acid, and on heating to 200° C. with hydrochloric acid, 
under pressure, it is decomposed into methyl chloride and _ proto- 
catechuic aldehyde, thus proving that vanillin is the methyl ether 
of protocatechuic acid or, to use the inconveniently long name 
applied to it by Dr, Tiemann, “ monomethylprotocatechuic 
aldehyde ” +. 

Protocatechuic acid is obtainable from various carbon compounds 
by fusion with caustic potash {, and its synthetical formation in 
various ways is of theoretical interest §. It is best prepared from 
East Indian Kino, as per note at foot | 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. vil. pp. 609, 614, 

+ Ibid. vii. p. 608. 

{ Ann, Chem. Pharm. exxiv. p. 118, exxvii. p. 357, exxvili. p. 285, cxxx, 
p. 346, cxxxiv. p. 277, cxxxix. p. 78. 

§ Ibid. clii. p. 109, cliv. p. 364, clix. p. 252. 

|| Protocatechuie acid is most readily prepared from East-Indian Kino, which 
is obtained by making incisions in the bark of Pterocarpus Marsupium ; the sap 
flows out and dries to a dark red transparent mass. ‘One part of the finely 
powdered kino is gradually added to three parts of fused sodic hydrate, stirring 
the mixture constantly during the introduction of the kino and keeping the 


166 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The synthetic formation of the odorous principle of vanilla can 
be effected from the starting-point of coal, the stages of the 
process being as follows :— 


Tar. 

Carbolic acid. 

Phenol. 

Potassium phenate. 

Paraoxybenzoic acid,—produced by the reaction of carbonic 
acid on potassium phenate (the analogous reaction with 
sodium phenate giving salicylic acid *). 


mixture at a low temperature. The most convenient method being to sift the 
tine powder over the surface of the hydrate, which is kept fused at a gentle heat. 
When the mixture has acquired a bright orange-brown colour, it is poured on to 
a stone or an iron plate, and allowed to cool. The cake is then broken jup and 
dissolved in about 20 parts of hot water, to which dilute sulphuric acid is added 
from time to time, so as to render the solution slightly acid. The dark brown 
solution is then allowed to stand for 24 hours, when it deposits a large quantity 
of sodic sulphate in crystals; the mother liquors which contain the proto- 
catechuic acid, after being filtered to remove a small quantity of tarry matter, 
are agitated with ether, the ethereal solution is then separated, and the ether 
recovered by distillation in the water-bath: the dark syrupy residue on standing 
deposits the protocatechuic acid in crystals. Or,—the mother liquors may be 
readily separated from the crystals by means of the vacuum-pump, and the acid 
is then easily purified by one or two crystallizations from a small quantity of 
hot water, with the addition of some freshly precipitated lead sulphide, which 
removes the brown colouring matter.” It crystallizes in monoclinic needles, 
containing one molecule of water which is lost at 106°, and melts at 194°; 
it dissolves in 53-55 parts of water at 14° and is very soluble in alcohol. 

* Salicylic acid is manufactured according to Kolbe’s process as follows :— 
The calculated quantity of pure phenol is dissolved in strong caustic soda 
solution, the whole evaporated to dryness and the residue rubbed into a dry 
powder; this is then gradually heated up to 180° C. in a metal retort, in a 
current of carbon dioxide which has been previously warmed. After some 
time phenol commences to distil over and is subsequently given off in larger 
quantity ; the temperature is then raised to 200° and the operation continued 
until no more phenol comes over. The residue is dissolved in water and 
fractionally precipitated with hydrochloric acid ; resinous and colouring matters 
are first thrown down, followed by tolerably pure acid, which is re-erystallized 
from water and purified by distillation with superheated steam (Compt. Rend. 
vill. p. 537). According to another patented process, carbonyl chloride, which 
is now manufactured on a large scale, is passed into a mixture of sodium 


carbonate and phenate heated to 140°, the temperature being finally raised 
to 200°. 


VANILLA. 167 


Protocatechuic acid, produced from the above. 
Dimethylprotocatechuic acid *, prepared by heating the above 
with caustic potash, methyliodide, and wood spirit f. 


When this last compound (which is identical with veratric acid) 
is heated with dilute hydrochloric acid in a closed vessel to 130°- 
140° C., among the products of decomposition is found mono- 
methylprotocatechuic or vanillic acid, of which vanillin is the 
corresponding aldehyde. 

The retrograde conversion of the acid into the aldehyde can be 
effected by the dry distillation of an intimate mixture of vanillate 
and formate of calcium. An oily distillate is obtained consisting 
of guaiacol and a small quantity of vanillin. If an ethereal 
solution of this distillate be agitated with a concentrated aqueous 
solution of sodium bisulphite, the latter, after decomposition with 
sulphuric acid, will yield the vanillin to ether. By crystallization 
from hot water it is obtained im a perfectly pure state. The 
other products of the decomposition of vanillic acid being car- 
bonic acid and guaiacol, this latter corresponding in every respect 
with that obtained from beech-wood tar f. 

The specification of Dr. Haarmann’s English Patent, dated 
Feb. 25, 1874 (No. 709), claims the following processes :—“ In 
order to obtain the artificial production of vanillin, by means of 
coniferin or the sap of plants belonging to the species of conitera 
as an extract of all those parts containing coniferin, take either, 
first, coniferin ; or, secondly, the sap of the plants which has been 
purified from albumina and other impurities; or thirdly, an 
extract of the parts; or fourthly, the products obtained from 


* Dimethylprotocatechuic acid, identical with veratric acid, exists in the 
seeds of Veratrum Sabadilla. It can also be prepared by shaking up 1 part of 
methyl-eugenol with 10 to 15 parts of water, and a solution of 33 parts of 
potassium permanganate in 20 to 30 parts of water heated to 8U°-90° C, 
gradually added. The filtrate is concentrated by evaporation and precipitated 
by hydrochloric acid (Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. ix. p. 937). Veratric acid dis- 
solves in 2100 parts of water at 14°, and in 160 parts at 100°, and crystallizes 
from a concentrated solution at a temperature above 50° in anhydrous needles, 
while crystals containing a molecule of water are obtained from very dilute 
solutions at any temperature below this. It melts at 174°-175° and can be 
sublimed. It dissolves readily in alcohol and ether; ferric chloride produces 
no coloration. 

+ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. viii. p. 514. 

{ Ibid. viii. p. 1124. 


168 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


coniferin by means of fermentation, and treat one or other with 
oxidizing agents. For the first production I use the following 
method :—Ten parts of coniferin are dissolved in hot water and 
the concentrated solution is allowed to flow slowly into a gently 
heated mixture of ten parts of bichromate of potassium, fifteen 
parts of strong sulphuric acid, and eighty parts of water; the 
whole is heated for about three hours almost up to the boiling- 
point of the liquid. The vanillin produced in this way may be 
isolated either :—1. By shaking the solution, when it has been 
filtered and become cold, with ether, separating the etherate from 
the aqueous solution, evaporating the ether, and purifying the 
dark coloured residue by repeated crystallization. Or, 2. By 
combining with a boiler in which coniferin has been treated for 
about three hours with the oxidizing mixture, a distillatory 
apparatus, and then by distilling the contents till only one fifth 
of their original volume remains, and by treating the distillate in 
the before described manner with ether to obtain a pure product, 
and by treating the residue in the same way to obtain the last 
traces of an impure vanillin. The artificial vanillin can also be 
obtained from an aqueous extract of all those parts of conifera in 
which coniferin 1s present, the impure solutions being boiled for 
some time to separate the dissolved albumina, filtered, and 
strongly evaporated. 

“ For a quick, but sufficiently exact determination of both the 
coniferin and sugar which are contained in the concentrated 
solutions, | evaporate them perfectly in a water-bath, and the 
residue is dried at 100°C. On every ten parts of what remains in 
the concentrated solutions, fifteen parts of bichromate of potas- 
sium and twenty parts of concentrated sulphuric acid must be 
taken, and the quantity of water must be administered according 
to the concentration of the solution, The further process is as 
ahove. 

“The coniferin decomposes under the influence of ferments into 
sugar and a crystallized substance which, in contact with damp 
air, also changes slowly and incompletely into vanillin, To obtain 
vanillin from this substance quicker, I treat it with an oxidizing 
mixture of bichromate of potassium and sulphuric acid. The 
vanillin obtained and purified in either way is proved in all cases 
completely identical to the natural vanillin.” 


VANILLA. 169 


Shortly after the above discovery, it was found that vanillin 
could be artificially produced from oil of cloves. On the 18th of 
March, 1876, a patent was taken by de Laire in France* for this 
purpose. According to his specification the process is thus 
described :—“ The starting-point of the manufacture is the 
preparation of Kugenol; I obtained this from oil of cloves, which 
contains it in large proportion. I dissolve one kilo of this oil in 
four or five kilos of ether, and agitate the mixture with a weak 
aqueous solution of sodium hydrate, which absorbs all the 
eugenol ; the hydrocarbon which constitutes the rest of the oil 
remaining in solution in the ether. I separate the sodium solu- 
tion and saturate it with sulphuric acid to set free the eugenol, 
which I collect by agitation with ether. On evaporation of the 
ether, the eugenol is left pure. This body is then heated for two 
or three hours with an equivalent proportion of acetic anhydride 
in an apparatus connected with an inverted condenser, being 
thereby converted into acetyleugenol. The mass is then allowed 
to cool, and when cold is agitated with several times its weight 
of water. The liquid is then gently warmed, and to it is gradually 
added a weak solution of potassium permanganate (1500 grammes 
of permanganate altogether). 

“The hydrate of manganese is separated out by filtration, the 
remaining solution gradually saturated with soda and its volume 
reduced by evaporation. When the liquid is cold it is acidified 
with sulphuric acid and agitated with ether, which takes up the 
vanilli, On evaporation of the ether the vanillin remains in 
crystals.” 


A patent was taken out in England for the production of 
vanillin from oil of cloves by Dr. Tiemann on the 20th of April, 
1876. The process, which is very similar to de Laire’s, taken 
out a month previously in France, is described as follows in the 
specification + :— To separate the two constituents (oil of cloves 
and the hydrocarbon) one from another, the oil is diluted with 
three times its volume of ether. The etheric solution is then 
agitated with a weak solution of hydrate of sodium or potassium, 
which takes up all the eugenol and leaves the indifferent hydro- 
carbon in the ether. After having acidulated the alkaline 


* Brevet 111950. + No. 1661. 


170 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


solution of eugenol by means of sulphuric acid, it is again 
agitated with ether to take up the eugenol, which can then be 
obtained in a pure state by distilling. Pure eugenol is heated 
for about two hours with acetic anhydride and thereby changed 
into acetoeugenol, and this liquid when cooled is to be carefully 
diluted with about twenty litres of warm water, and then into 
this mixture is allowed to flow gradually a solution of one and a 
half kilos of permanganate of potassium in about 200 litres of 
warm water, during which time the liquid is kept constantly 
stirred. By means of permanganate of potassium the aceto- 
eugenol is oxidized and the hydrate of the manganese dioxide is 
separated out. To the liquid filtered from the latter, hydrate of 
sodium is added ina small excess to give it a weak alkaline 
reaction, when the liquid is to be evaporated to the volume of 
about 25 litres. The liquid, concentrated in this way, is acidu- 
lated with sulphuric acid and agitated with ether, which last then 
takes up the vanillin formed in the described manner. It is then 
purified by any of the known methods.” 


Vanillin from Bran—A patent dated Dec. 27, 1876%*, was 
granted in France to Eugéne Sérullas, of Paris, for an artificial 
product having the odour of vanilla obtained from the husk of 
oats. The patentee claims to have discovered in the pericarp of 
oats an inodorous principle which he termed “ aveneine,” a sub- 
stance very soluble in boiling water and in alcohol. 

Bran, which is a commercial residue in the preparation of 
oatmeal, is exhausted by any of the known methods which are 
employed for the preparation of populin and other glucosides. 
The resulting aveneine is to be purified and oxidized by any of 
the usual processes, but to produce the complete transformation 
the mixture is to be boiled for two hours and a half. After 
cooling it is to be agitated with ether to extract the prodact of 
oxidation, and on evaporation of the ether the product can be 
collected and purified in the ordinary way. 

Vanillin from Siam benzoin.—Two parts of Siam benzoin and 
one part of slaked lime are boiled with water in an iron kettle, 
stirring constantly ; the resulting solution of benzoate of calcium 
is filtered, the filtrate acidulated with sulphuric acid and the 


* Brevet 116200. 


VANILLA. big 


precipitated benzoic acid separated by filtration, the acid filtrate 
shaken with ether and the ether evaporated spontaneously. The 
impure vanillin thus obtained is purified by re-crystallization 
from water, from which it separates in long thin white needles, 
turning yellow on exposure to the air*. 

Vanillin from Asafetida.—The actual preparation of vanillin 
from asafcetida is described by Schmidt as follows + :—An ethereal 
extract of the gum-resin is shaken with a strong solution of 
sodium bisulphite, adding to the solution excess of sulphuric 
acid, and after driving off sulphurous acid, extracting the liquid 
with ether. Upon evaporation of the ether, crude vanillin is left 
as a residue, which after purification corresponds in every respect 
with vanillin from other sources. The possibility of deriving 
vanillin from asafoetida was suggested fifteen years ago by Tie- 
mann, who showed the connection between that compound and 
ferulic acid. Vanillin has an acid reaction and forms salts, 
which have been investigated by Carles, and by Tiemann and 
Haarmann. By the action of an ethereal solution of acetic 
anhydride upon the sodium salt of vanillin, a coumarin-like body 
is produced which has been: named “ vanillin-coumarin.” This 
body when boiled with caustic potash is converted into an acid 
identical with the ferulic acid obtained from asafcetida f. 

Vanillin has been obtained by heating guaiacol § with caustic 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. 1878, p. 1634. 

+ Archives der pharmacie, June 1886, p. 454. 

t Pharm. Journ. [3] vi. p. 815. 

§ Guaiacol.—Produced from the products of the dry distillation of guaiac 
resin, which is a natural exudation or the result of incisions made in the bark 
of the Hujacum tree, Guajacum officinale, a tree growing in Jamaica, St. Do- 
mingo, and other West Indian Islands. In the Island of Gonave, near Port-au- 
Prince, another method is used: a log is supported in a horizontal position 
above the ground by two bars, and each end of the log set on fire, the melted 
resin running from a large incision which has previously been made in the 
middle. Guaiacum resin is a brittle dark green to brownish-black mass, which 
readily dissolves in alcohol. When submitted to dry distillation it yields 
guaiol or tiglic aldehyde, guaiacol, creosol, and pyroguaiacin. 

When the crude oil obtained by distillation is washed with water and 
rectified at a moderate heat, guaiacene passes over first, and afterwards, when 
the heat is increased, the guaiacol distils. It may be purified by repeated 
rectification or by dissolving it in potash and boiling it with water as long as 
any light oil passes over, then mixing it with sulphuric acid in quantity not 
quite sufficient to combine with the whole of the potash, redissolving the 


172 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


soda and chloroform*; and from olivil + the crystalline con- 
stituent of the Lecca gum, or resin of the wild olive t, which is 
used in Italy as Incense; also by the oxidation of ferulie acid, 
which can be prepared on a large scale without difficulty §. 
Vanilin has been obtained from opium. Narcotin is first 
extracted and converted into opianic acid by heating 100 grammes 
with 1500 grammes of water and 150 grammes of sulphuric acid 
until the mixture boils; 150 grammes of finely powdered pyrolu- 
site (corresponding to 90 grammes of manganese dioxide) are 
then added somewhat rapidly and the hot solution filtered. 
Opianic acid separates out on cooling and is purified by crystal- 
lization, It is slightly soluble in cold, readily in hot water, 
alcohol, and ether, and crystallizes in thin narrow prisms, or 


separated oil in potash and boiling the solution in a retort till the milky oil 
which passes over becomes perfectly clear on the addition of a small quantity 
of potash, again separating the oil by sulphuric acid and drying it in vacuo 
over sulphuric acid. It is a colourless oil, having a sp. gr. of 1119 at 22° 
(Sobrero), 1:125 at 16° (Volckel) ; it boils at 210°. 

Guaiacol can also be obtained from beech-wood tar. The crude compound 
obtained from beech-wood tar creosote is repeatedly shaken with moderately 
strong ammonia, washed, and rectified. The oil is then dissolved in an equal 
volume of ether, and a small excess of alcoholic potash (concentrated) added to 
it. The potassium salt separates out and is then re-crystallized from alcohol 
and decompased by dilute sulphuric acid, 

* Bull. Soc, Chim. ix. p. 424. 

t Scheidel, Ber, Deutsch, chem, Ges, xviii. p. 685. 

{ Olivil, C,,H,,0;, is the crystalline constituent of the resin of the wild olive. 
It forms a thick vapour on heating and has a pleasant odour resembling those 
of benzoin and cloves. It is employed in Italy for the fumigation of sick 
rooms. In order to obtain the olivil, the resin is extracted with ether and the 
residue treated with boiling aleohol. The olivil, which separates on cooling, is 
washed with cold dilute alcohol and re-crystallizes from alcohol. It forms 
white needles which are odourless, and have a sweetish, bitter taste, melt at 
120° and solidify to an amorphous mass, which forms a strongly electrified 
powder on trituration. This mass melts at 70°, but after re-crystallization from 
alcohol, regains the original melting-point. It crystallizes from hot water in 
stellate groups of prisms, which contain one molecule of water. It is readily 
soluble in alkalies and precipitates the metals from solutions of gold chloride 
and silver nitrate. On dry distillation it yields an oily liquid, to which Sobrero 
has given the name of pyro-olivilic acid (Ann. Chem. Pharm. liv. p. 67). It 
has the composition and properties of eugenol and is either identical with this 
or iso-eugenol., 

§ Ulrich, Ber. Deutsch. chem, Ges, xviii. ref, 682. 


VANILLA. 17s 


silky needles, which melt at 150°, and decompose on further 
heating, giving off a vapour which smells like vanilla (Wohler). 
It has a faint acid reaction and slightly bitter taste. When its 
sodium salt is heated with soda lime, methylvanillin is formed ; 
and zsovanillin when it is heated with dilute sulphuric acid to 
160°-170°*. The methylvanillin is slightly soluble in hot water, 
readily in alcohol, and crystallizes in needles which smell like 
vanilla. The isovanillin, which can also be formed by heating 
opianic acid to 160°-170° with dilute hydrochloric acid, crystal- 
hizes from hot water in monosymmetric prisms of vitreous lustre, 
which sublime when heated, undergoing slight decomposition ; 
its vapour has a pleasant smell, resembling that of vanilla and 
anise +. 

Processes for the production of vanillin from pyrocatechin and 
from guiacol have been patented in France by Alfraise, dated 23 
Dec. 1891 ¢. The process he describes for converting guiacol 
into aceto-ferulic acid and thence into vanillin does uot appear to 
be particularly novel, or to offer any solid advantage over already 
known methods: any economy in working expenses would be best 
known to manufacturers. 

It may here be remarked that whereas the abstracts of specifi- 
cations of French patents were formerly rather costly to obtain, 
abstracts in extenso are now supplied at moderate price by the 
Proprietors of the ‘ Revue de Chimie Industrielle,’ 53 bis, Rue des 
Grands Augustins, Paris. An abstract of the last-named specifi- 
cation is published in that Journal of May 1892, p. 154. 


This description is but a brief résumé of the very extensive 
literature of this valuable product. For an earnest study of the 
subject the reader is referred to the following works, but to an 
intending planter the pamphlet by Delteuil is a very fair guide :— 


DE LTEvIL, ‘ Etude sur la Vanille.’” Paris, 1874. 

JAILLET, “Culture et preparation de la Vanille.” ‘Repertoire de Phar- 
macie,’ vill. pp. 8357 & 411 (Aug. & Sept. 1880). 

‘Vanilla, its cultivation in India.’ J. E. O'Connor. Caleutta, 1875. 

‘Annals of Natural History,’ iii. p. 1. “On the production of Vanilla in 
Europe,” by Professor Morren. 


* Journ. Chem. Soe. 1876, i. p. 287. 
+ Tiemann, Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. viii. p. 1135. 
{ Brevet 218232, 


174 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


‘Annales des Sciences Naturelles,’ 3° série, v. p. 117 (DEsvavx). 

‘ Revue Coloniale,’ 2° série, ii. p, 883. This article is not signed, being 
probably editorial. 

‘Bulletins de l’Académie Royale de Belgique,’ xvii. 1° partie, p. 108 
(MorreEN). (Excellent coloured plate of the pods.) 

Consular Reports, from Consul Seagrave, Réunion. 

“ Botanische Berichte aus Mexico.” Linnea, iy. pp. 514-583 (ScHrEDr), 

‘ Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie,’ p. 422 (BLUME). 

‘Rumphia, Biume, p. 196, tab. 67. 

Catrssy, ‘ Hist. Nat. de la Caroline,’ iii. p. 7, tab. 7. 

ANDREWS, ‘ Botanical Repository,’ tab, 538, vol. viii. 

Mauritius ‘ Blue Book, 1872. 

VRIESE, ‘ De Vanielje.’ Leyden, 1856, p. 22. 

LoppieEs, Bot. Cab. 738. (Finely coloured plate of the flowers.) 

PiumIER, ‘ Plante Americanum,’ p. 183, tab. 188. 

PuivumieER, ‘ Flora Jave,’ edit. Burmanni, 25, 

Swartz, ‘ Nova Acta Upsala,’ vi. 66, tab. 5. fig. 1. 

R. Brown, ‘ Hortus Kewensis, v. p. 220, 

Linn us, ‘ Spec. Plantarum, 1347. 

GARDNER, ‘ Travels in the Interior of Brazil,’ p. 296, 

SwaRvz, in Schrader’s Journ. Bot. ii. fig. i (1799). 

Kuntu, ‘ Synopsis Plantarum,’ 1. p. 359. 

F, Baur, ‘Illustrations of Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants,’ 
tabb, 10 & 11. 

SALisBuRY, Paradisus Londinensis, 82. 

Swarrz, Prodr. 120. 

MornrEN, ‘ Bulletin de Académie Royale des Sciences,’ tab. iv. no. 5, 
p. 225. 

Morren, ‘ Ann. de la Soc. Roy. d’Horticulture de Paris,’ tab. 20, 1837, 
p- 331. 

LinpLEy’s ‘ Flora Medica,’ p. 579. 

*LINDLEY’S ‘Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants,’ part vi. p. 435. 
LINDLEY, in Botanical Register, 1838, and Bot. Mise. p. 58, 
‘Pharmacographia,’ 2nd ed. p. 657. 

BreNntTLEY and TrIMeEn, Med. Plants, tab. 272. 

‘Comptes Rendus de Académie,’ May 11, 1874. “ Récherches sur la 
Coniferine ” (TIEMANN and HAARMANN), 

‘Berichte der Deutsch. Chem. Ges.’ ix. pp. 409-423, contains a summary 
of various papers bearing on the subject of Vanilla compounds pub- 
lished by Tiemann and other chemists. 

Report of U.S. Consul Know es of Bordeaux, Sept. 1891, partly abstracted 
in American Journ, Pharm. June 1892, 


* The plates in Lindley’s ‘ Orchidaceous Plants’ are indifferently reproduced 
from the drawings of Francis Bauer, 1807, which are now in the British 
Museum, 


THE ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND, 175 


CHAPTER: 1X, 


ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND.—CHERRY LAUREL,— 
HELIOTROPE. 


Tue Opour or Birrer ALMonpD. 


Tue tree producing bitter almonds (Amygdalus communis, L., 
var. amara, DC.) is not distinguished by any botanical character 
or habit of growth from the tree which produces the sweet 
almond. Both the bitter and sweet almond form trees 20 to 30 
feet in height. The leaves resemble those of the peach, but the 
lower serratures are glandular, which has given rise to the con- 
jecture that glandular-leaved peaches have sprung more imme- 
diately from the almond than such as are without glands, as is 
generally the case with nectarines. Their flowers vary in colour 
from a fine blush to snow-white. The chief distinction is in the 
fruit, which is flatter, with a coriaceous dry covering instead of 
the rich pulp of the peach and nectarine, opening spontaneously 
when the kernel is ripe. The peach and the almond have been 
crossed by dusting the stigma of an almond with the pollen of a 
peach*, 

The almond is propagated like the peach, by seed for varieties 
or stocks, and by budding on its own or on a plum stock for con- 
tinuing varieties, Plum stocks are preferred for strong moist 
soils, and peach and almond stocks for dry situations. Light, 
sandy soil seems most suitable to the tree. 

The almond-tree bears chiefly on the young wood of the pre- 
vious year, like the apricot and peach, and in part upon small 
spurs on the two-year old, and three-year old and older branches ; 
it should therefore be pruned like these trees, 

There are two varieties of bitter almond, one with a hard brittle 
shell to the nuts, and one with a tender shell. 


* Hort. Trans, iii. p. 41, tab. i, 


176 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The bitter almonds resemble sweet almonds in shape; but are 
generally somewhat smaller. In the order of their relative value 
they are known as French, Sicilian, and Barbary almonds. The 
fixed oil contained in the bitter almond is identical with that con- 
tained in the sweet variety, but in a slightly smaller proportion ; 
the average yield being 43 to 44 per cent., obtained by hydraulic 
pressure. After the almonds have been freed from fixed oil by 
pressure, an odourless cake is left which yields the characteristic 
smell of oil of bitter almonds on the addition of water. The 
chemists who made this discovery thereby concluded that oil of 
bitter almonds must be a compound of water with a peculiar 
principle which they endeavoured to isolate. The use of water 
being impossible, they extracted the pressed almonds with boiling 
alcohol, and obtained, together with resin and a liquid sugar, a 
crystalline compound containing nitrogen, to which they gave the 
name of amygdalin. 'This compound, to which the taste of bitter 
almonds is due, gave no smell of bitter almonds when treated with 
water, nor did either of the two other compounds, nor the residue, 
nor either a mixture of them all*. The prussic acid and the oil 
of bitter almonds had vanished from their hands (Robiquet and 
Boutron-Charlard). The problem was solved by Liebig and 
Wohler+, who also accurately determined the composition of 
amygdalin. They showed that both sweet and bitter almonds 
contained a peculiar nitrogenous substance, emulsint, which 
converts amygdalin, in presence of water, into oil of bitter 
almonds, prussic acid, and grape sugar. To the oil of bitter 
almonds they gave the name of benzoyl-hydride, which was later 

* Annales de Chim. et de Phys. xliv. p. 352. 

+ Ann. Chem. Pharm. xxii. p. 1; xxv. p. 175; xxv. p. 190. 

¢ To prepare emulsin:—Sweet almond paste, well freed from fixed oil, is 
macerated in three times its weight of pure water; the mass is pressed, and 
the emulsin thus obtained is left to itself at 20° to 25°C. After the lapse of a 
day, the emulsin is found to have separated into two layers, the upper of 
which is coagulated, and looks like cream, while the lower is watery and 
transparent. After two or three days this watery liquid no longer gives a pre- 
cipitate with acetic acid, but it forms with alcohol a precipitate perfectly 
soluble in water. This last precipitate consists of emulsin. After being 
washed with absolute alcohol and dried zm vacuo over sulphuric acid it forms 
a white, opaque, friable mass, soluble in water. 

Emulsin completely loses its power of transforming amygdalin into benz- 
aldehyde when its aqueous solution is boiled, but it retains its power when heated 
to 100° C. in the dry state, even for several hours. 


THE ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND. 177 


changed to benzoic aldehyde, and is now known by the name of 
benzaldehyde (C,;H;CHO). 

The action of the ferment is destroyed by boiling water and by 
heating with alcohol, so that when dried and powdered bitter 
almonds are shaken up with boiling water and distilled, none of 
the essential oil is obtained, and the same result occurs when, as 
in Robiquet and Boutron-Charlard’s process, they are treated with 
boiling alcohol. 

Amygdalin, which is the first example of a glucoside (a large 
number of which bodies are now known), occurs in many plants, 
chiefly the Amygdalacee, Drupacez, and Pomacez, which all 
yield benzaldehyde and prussic acid when distilled with water*. 
The kernel of the peach also yields an oil resembling the oil of 
bitter almonds in every respect}; while that obtained from the 
leaves, flowers, seeds, and bark of the cherry contains both oil of 
bitter almonds and another oil which has a penetrating, repulsive 
odour}. According to Winkler, the fresh leaves of the cherry- 
laurel (Prunus Laurocerasus), the cherry (Prunus Padus), and the 
peach contain a small quantity of free oil of bitter almonds, 
varying in amount with the water present$, which can be ex- 
tracted by ether. Of Syrian peach and apricot kernels consider- 
ably over a million pounds weight are annually exported from 
Damascus, which is the principal locality of the production. The 
cracking of the shells and removal of the kernels is done partly by 
hand and partly by machinery. 

In the distillation of oil of bitter almonds a difficulty is expe- 
rienced by the formation of large quantities of froth, by reason of 

* To prepare amygdalin, bitter almonds are freed as far as possible from 
fatty oil by pressing, and the mass repeatedly extracted with boiling alcohol ; 
the alcohol is then distilled off, and the residue recrystallized from boiling 
alcohol. It erystallizes in lustrous plates or scales, or from water in trans- 
parent, rhombic prisms, which become anhydrous at 120°, solidifying to an 
amorphous mass on cooling. At 8°-]2° it dissolves in 12 parts of water, while 
it is soluble in every proportion in boiling water. It is slightly soluble in cold, 
more readily in boiling alcohol, and insoluble in ether. On the addition of 
emulsin to its aqueous solution, it decomposes into grape-sugar and phenyl- 
hydroxyacetonitril, which is partially decomposed by distillation into benz- 
aldehyde and hydrocyanic acid. The same decomposition takes place on 
boiling with dilute hydrochloric acid. (Roscoe and Schorlemmer.) 

+ Righini, Ann. Chem. Pharm. x. p. 359; Geissler, ibid. xxxvi. p. 331. 

¢t Winkler, Repert. Pharm. Ixvii. i. p. 56. 

§ Jahresb. Chem. iv. p. 519. 


178 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


the albuminoids present. In order to remedy this difficulty, and 
to get all the amygdalin into solution, 12 parts of the coarsely 
powdered cake are immersed in 100 to 120 parts of boiling 
water, and kept at the boiling-poimt for 15 to 30 minutes; this 
coagulates the albuminous matters and dissolves the amygdalin, 
then, after cooling the mixture, an emulsion of one part of pow- 
dered almonds (either sweet or bitter, or a portion of the first- 
mentioned cake) stirred up in six or seven parts of cold water is 
added to the mass. This one part contains sufficient emulsin to 
produce the desired decomposition, at a temperature not exceeding 
40°C. The entire bulk is then rapidly distilled. By this process 
the oil is prepared on a large scale, the yield varying from 0°74 to 
1:67 per cent. of oil from the cake. Therefore, if 100 lbs. of 
almonds yield 57 lbs. of cake, the yield of oil is 0°42 to 0°95 per 
cent. on the weight of the almonds. The aqueous distillate con- 
tains some oil in solution which is removed by a subsequent 
distillation. The great variation in the figures of the yield is 
partly accounted for by the variability of quality of the almond 
used, and the consequent varying amount of amygdalin present, 
and it is partly due to admixture of sweet almonds; an adultera- 
tion which frequently causes much loss to the manufacturer, whose 
profit greatly depends on the percentage of essential oil which he 
can distil from the residuary cake. 


Natural Oil of Bitter Almonds. 


This is chemically known as Benzaldehyde. It is a colourless, 
strongly refractive liquid, having the well-known characteristic 
smell and a burning aromatic taste. It dissolves in more than 
300 parts of water, boils at 179°, and has a sp. gr. of 1:0636 at 0°, 
and of 1:0504 at 15°. 

This oil is generally adulterated; in many cases with alcohol. 
When pure, sulphuric acid produces a clear crimson-red colour 
without visible decomposition. Mixed with an alcoholic solution 
of potash, crystals are eliminated. Iodine dissolves only partially 
and slowly init. Nitric acid, sp. gr. 1:42, causes no immediate 
reaction, and in the course of three or four days crystals of 
benzoic acid begin to appear, but if only 8 per cent. or 10 per 
cent. of alcohol or rectified spirit is present a violent effervescence 
speedily commences, and nitrous fumes are evolved. By using 


THE ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND. 179 


nitric acid sp. gr. 15 the smallest quantity of alcohol may be 
detected. Chromate of potash does not affect it. 

For the detection of the adulteration of nitrobenzene in oil of 
bitter almonds, it has been recommended to shake the suspected 
sample in a test-tube, with one-half its weight of solid caustic 
potash. The yellow colour of the oil is not changed if it is pure ; 
but if nitrobenzene be present, the colour will soon change to a 
characteristic red. If a considerable quantity of nitrobenzene be 
present, the red colour is changed to a more or less fine green 
colour, which, on the followmg day, again becomes red. The 
quantity of nitrobenzene is determined by agitating the adulterated 
oil violently and repeatedly with four volumes of a concentrated 
solution of bisulphite of sodium ; after some time rectified ether 
is added, which dissolves the nitrobenzene, and by evaporation 
permits its estimation. To prove the residue of the evaporation 
to be nitrobenzene, it can be converted into aniline. 

To distinguish the natural oil from the artificial oil which is 
frequently substituted for it, and to detect the presence of the 
latter, a simple process has been recommended, based on a reaction 
produced by the organic chlorinated compounds always contained 
as impurities in the artificial oil. It consists in saturating a piece 
of folded filter-paper with the oil to be examined, and after 
placing it m a porcelain dish standing in a larger one, igniting it, 
and covering it over with a large inverted beaker, the sides of 
which have been wetted with water. The combustion-gases be- 
come absorbed on the moist sides of the beaker, from which they 
are washed on to a filter with a little distilled water. The filtrate, 
when treated with solution of silver nitrate, should give no turbidity, 
much less a precipitate of silver chloride. Genuine essential oil 
of bitter almonds, distilled in the ordinary way from almonds or 
peach-kernels, never gives a chlorine reaction. (Schimmel.) 

Some manufacturers free the oil from hydrocyanic acid ; the 
purified oil, however, oxidizes much more readily than when in 
the crude state, so that others add hydrocyanic acid and warm 
gently in order to make it keep better, the nitril being formed *. 
When, however, it is desirable to store the oil freed from hydro- 
cyanic acid, the oil should be very carefully dried from all traces 
of water by agitation with fused calcium chloride. 


* Bull. Soc. Chem. [2] viii. p, 459. 
N2 


180 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


To free the crude oil of bitter almonds from hydrocyanic acid, 
the following methods have been adopted :— 

1. (Liebig.) Agitate the crude distilled oil with red oxide of 
mercury in slight excess, and after a few days’ contact rectify the 
oil from a little fresh oxide of mercury. The product is quite 
pure when the process is properly managed. The cyanide of 
mercury thus formed may be either employed as such or re- 
converted into mercury. 

2. (Mackay.) Crude oil of almonds | Ib. ; fresh slaked lime gq. s. 
to form a milk-like liquid; afterwards add 14 lb. solution of 
potash and 3 pints of water; agitate occasionally for 48 hours, 
then distil over the oil and rectify it from a fresh mixture of lime 
and potash. 

3. (Redwood.) The oil is mixed with an equal quantity of 
water, and the mixture is digested in a water-bath with red oxide 
of mercury and small quantities of fresh slaked lime and proto- 
chloride of iron, with as little access of air as possible; as soon 
as the decomposition of the acid has taken place the whole is 
introduced into a copper retort and submitted to distillation. 
The product is perfectly free from hydrocyanic acid. 

The first process is considered the simplest, cheapest, and best. 
The usual method of testing Bitter-almond oil for prussic acid is 
given in the description of Artificial Benzaldehyde, further on. 


Artificial Oil of Bitter Almonds. 


Benzaldehyde is manufactured artificially on the large scale by 
boiling 2 parts of Benzyl chloride with 3 parts of lead nitrate 
(or, preferably, copper nitrate) and 10 parts of water for several 
hours in an apparatus connected with an inverted condenser, the 
operation being conducted in a current of carbon dioxide; half 
the liquid is then distilled off, and the oil separated from the 
water. 

It is obtained from benzidene chloride by heating it under 
pressure in an iron vessel with caustic soda. It is said to be 
possible to heat without pressure in an apparatus connected with 
an inverted condenser if milk of lime be used, or if whiting or 
some other finely divided insoluble substance be added and the 
whole stirred into an emulsion, which boils at a higher temperature 
and thus facilitates the decomposition of the chloride. 


THE ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND. 18] 


Jacobsen * recommends a process in which benzidene chloride 
is heated with glacial acetic acid and zine chloride, benzaldehyde 
and acetyl chloride being formed ; the necessary amount of water 
is then allowed to flow in, and the acetic acid which is formed 
recovered. 

The artificial benzaldehyde of commerce, which is used in the 
colour industry and prepared from benzyl chloride, is always more 
or less impure, retaining traces of chlorinated compounds of 
pungent repulsive odour which render it unfit for perfumery 
purposes f. 

The artificially prepared benzaldehyde comes into the market 
nearly always free from prussic acid; but yet, it is occasionally 
met with containing that acid—which has of course been added 
by the manufacturer to supply an order. The usual method of 
testing bitter-almond oil for prussic acid is as follows :—From 
10 to 15 drops of the oil are shaken up with 2 or 3 drops of 
30-per-cent. soda solution. To this is added a few drops of a 
solution of slightly oxidized sulphate of iron. After another 
vigorous shaking, the liquid is slightly acidified with dilute 
hydrochloric acid. When the precipitate is dissolved, the presence 
of prussic acid is manifest by the appearance of the characteristic 
blue deposit. The least trace of prussic acid may be detected in 
this way. Or, the oil may be dissolved im alcohol and a solution 
of potash and sulphate of iron added ; then, on the addition of a 
dilute acid, Prussian blue is formed. 

A sure and delicate test-paper for indicating the presence of 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xiii. p. 2013; xiv. p. 1425. 

+ Benzyl chloride, C,H.CH,Cl, is prepared on the large scale by the action of 
chlorine on boiling toluene (Ann. Chem. Pharm. ccxxi. p. 365), the toluene 
being contained in large glass balloons heated by a bath of calcium chloride, and 
the chlorine passed through in such a manner that it chiefly comes in contact 
with the vapour of the toluene. This is effected by only allowing the leaden 
conducting tube, which terminates in a short piece of glass tubing, to dip a 
small distance below the surface of the boiling liquid. The vapours of toluene 
are condensed by a cooling arrangement and the hydrochloric acid evolved is 
led into water. The product is washed with water containing a little caustic 
soda, and the benzyl chloride freed from unaltered toluene and higher substi- 
tution-products by distillation. Benzyl chloride is a colourless liquid, the 
vapour of which has a penetrating aromatic smell, rapidly produces a flow of 
tears, and attacks the mucous membrane most violently. It boils at 176° and 
has a sp. gr. of 1:107 at 14°. 


182 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


_ prussic acid can be made by dipping bibulous paper in fresh 
tincture of guaiacum, then drying and dippimg in an aqueous 
solution of cupric sulphate (1 in 2000) and once more drying. 
The paper will become intensely blue if moistened and afterwards 
dipped into oil containing prussic acid. 

There are other chemically prepared compounds having the 
odour of bitter almonds, such as Nitrobenzene, Nitrotoluene, Meta- 
nitrotoluene, &c. 


MIRBANE. 


Nitrobenzene, C,H;NO,, is used in perfumery as a substitute for 
oil of bitter almonds. 

Nitrobenzene can be readily distinguished from oil of bitter 
almonds by the following test :— 

Pour a few drops of each on a plate and add a drop of strong 
sulphuric acid. The oil of almonds acquires a rich crimson 
colour with a yellow border,—the nitrobenzene produces no colour. 
Also it yields no Prussian blue when mixed with sulphate of 
iron, alcohol, and potash. 

It was first introduced in commerce by Collas under the name 
of “Essence of Mirban,” and incorrectly called “ artificial oil of 
bitter almonds.” In 1874 a process was patented by Mansfeld 
for its preparation from coal-tar. It is now prepared on a very 
large scale and employed for a variety of purposes. 

To prepare it in small quantities, equal parts of fuming nitric 
acid and benzene are gradually mixed. The apparatus consists of 
a large glass worm, the upper end of which is divided into two 
branches gradually dilating so as to form two funnel-shaped tubes : 
into one of these the nitric acid is poured, and into the other the 
benzene. These bodies meet at the point of junction of the two 
tubes, and the rate of their flow is regulated by an appropriate means. 
Chemical reaction instantly takes place and the new compound is 
cooled in its passage through the worm, which is refrigerated for 
the purpose. It has then only to be washed with water or a very 
weak solution of carbonate of soda or caustic soda for the process 
to be complete. 

It is a light yellow, strongly refractive liquid, having at 0° a 
sp. gr. of 1°200. It has a peculiar smell, similar to that of bitter 


THE ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND. 183 


almonds, at the same time reminding one of oil of cimnamon, and 
possesses a sweet and burning taste. It boils at 210°, and at a 
low temperature solidifies in large needles, melting at 3°. In 
water it is scarcely soluble, but it dissolves readily in alcohol, 
ether, benzene, and concentrated nitric acid, and is itself an 
excellent solvent for many organic substances which are sparingly 
or not at all soluble in the ordinary solvents. 

Nitrobenzene is poisonous, especially when the vapour is 
inhaled. 

It is manufactured on a large scale by allowing a well-cooled 
mixture of fuming nitric acid, free from chlorine, and concentrated 
sulphuric acid to flow into benzene, contained in cast-iron vessels 
provided with agitators. The mixture must be kept very cool. 
Towards the end of the reaction, however, the temperature may rise 
to from 80° to 90°. When the reaction is over the product is run 
into tanks; the acid mixture separates as a layer at the bottom, 
whilst nitrobenzene, being insoluble in the’acid, goes to the top. 
The uncombined acid layer is drawn off and the nitric acid recovered. 

Crude nitrobenzene contains more or less benzene which has 
escaped the reaction. To remove the latter, the crude product is 
treated with steam, while the benzene distils over with a small 
quantity of nitrobenzene. The residual nitrobenzene is washed 
with caustic soda and water, and if necessary purified by distil- 
lation in high pressure steam. 

Messrs. Schimmel & Co. report that “the competition of the 
cheap English nitro-toluol, the Pseudo-Mirbane of commerce, has 
made the laborious and dangerous manufacture of this poisonous 
body (nitrobenzene) quite unremunerative. The mania for 
cheapness has brought about a condition which deserves to be 
more closely considered. It should be premised that the odour of 
bitter almond is peculiar to nitrobenzene, so that those persons 
who buy an impure preparation mixed with nitrobenzene deceive 
themselves if they expect to obtain with it the same effect as with 
the pure compound. Of this they may convince themselves by 
making a comparative examination of the strength of the two 
qualities.” This Report, dated April 1891, further states that 
the opinion of an expert employed to estimate a commercial 
sample of this kind in connexion with the prosecution of the 
consigner, was given as follows :—“‘The so-called Mirbane oil 
contains no noteworthy proportion of nitrobenzene, of which it 


184 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


should alone consist. It is made up of 40 to 50 per cent. of the 
higher homologues of this series, the nitrotoluenes, particularly 
the metanitrotoluene and nitroxylols, of about 8 per. cent of 
benzene hydrocarbons which have escaped nitration, and 40 to 
45 per cent. of a residue boiling above 360°C. The indifference 
of this last constituent to powerful reagents, as well as the fact 
that a paraffinoid body was isolated from it, make it probable that 
we have here a mineral oil. The specimen is an instance of bare- 
faced and clumsy adulteration, and its value does not in the least 
correspond to the price at which it was bought.” It is added 
that “ Mirbane oils exist and circulateincommerce which practically 
contain no nitrobenzene at all.” A remark worthy of note. 


Pseudo-Mirbane. 


Nitrotoluene, C,H,(NO,)CHs, is obtained by dissolving toluene 
in fuming nitric acid and precipitating with water. It is a 
colourless liquid, boiling at 225°, possessing a smell of bitter 
almonds, and a very sweet, somewhat biting taste. At the same 
time, a small quantity of metanitrotoluene and the ortho- and 
para-compounds are formed*. ‘The relative quantities of the 
two chief products depend upon the concentration of the acid and 
the temperature at which the nitration is effected. When a very 
concentrated acid is employed, and the temperature allowed to 
rise, paranitrotoluene is chiefiy obtained, while the yield of the 
ortho-compound is greatly increased by employing a weaker acid 
and cooling the mixture well. 

The nitrotoluenes are manufactured on the large scale by 
mixing 10 parts of toluene with 1] parts of nitric acid sp. gr. 1°22 
and 1 part of sulphuric acid sp. gr. 1:33 with continual agitation, 
in the apparatus used for the manufacture of nitrobenzene; this 
mixture is then either cooled or kept warm, according to the product 
desired. The crude product is washed with water and caustic 
soda solution, freed from unattacked toluene by distillation with 
steam, and then distilled with superheated steam. The distillate 
is then repeatedly fractionated ; the larger portion of the fraction, 
distilling above 230°, solidifies on cooling, and the crystals, after 
purification by draining and pressing, yield pure. paranitrotoluene 
on distillation; the fraction boiling between 222°-223° consists 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xii. p. 445. 


THE CHERRY-LAUREL. 185 


chiefly of orthonitrotoluene, while the intermediate fractions 
contain some of the meta-compound *. 


Tue CuHerry-LaAvuRreEL. 


The Cherry-Laurel, Cerasus Laurocerasus, syn. Prunus Lauro- 
cerasus, Linn., is a native of the Levant, Caucasus, the mountains 
of Persia, and the Crimea. ‘The varieties of this evergreen shrub 
form bushes 6 to 10 feet high. Several of them have been natu- 
ralized in England as ornamental shrubs and for the preparation 
of the aqueous distillate. The Colchican laurel (P. L. Colchica) is 
a hardy dwarf spreading bush, with narrow, sharply serrated, pale- 
green leaves; the Versailles laurel (P. ZL. latifolia), with large 
leaves; the P. L. rotundifolia, with short broad leaves; the 
Grecian, with very narrow leaves; the Alexandrian, with very 
small leaves; and the Caucasian (P. L. Caucasica), which is 
superior to them all, being not only the most robust and hardy, 
but yielding the largest quantity of volatile oil of any of these 
varieties, 75 grammes per 50 kilos; this is a vigorous grower, and is 
easily propagated from cuttings planted in September in a sheltered 
situation. 

Cherry-laurel water is used medicinally ; but it is a dangerous 
medicament, owing to the uncertain quantity of hydrocyanic acid 
it may contain. The officinal preparation is directed to be made 
by distilling 1 Ib. of the leaves with 2} lbs. of water and drawing 
over | pint of distillate. Perinelle+ has pomted out the importance 
of always ascertaining the strength of aq. lauwrocerasi before it is 
placed in stock. His experiments have led him to the conclusion that 
the strength of the liquid in hydrocyanic acid will vary considerably 
according to the time of year at which it is prepared and to the 
variety of the cherry-laurel employed. The two periods of the 
year when the leaves are most readily obtained in quantity in 
England are May and November, when the shrubberies are clipped. 
The water distilled in May yielded only 39 milligrammes of hydro- 


* Toluene, C,H,CH,, which on the Continent is called Toluol, is a strongly 
refractive liquid possessing a smell similar to that of benzene (which in French 
is called benzol). It is obtained on the large scale from light coal-tar oil, and 
is chiefly employed in the colour industry. 

+ Rép. de Pharmacie, Aug. 1887, p, 331. 


186 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


cyanic acid per 100 grammes of water, but that prepared in No- 
vember yielded 134 milligrammes per 100 grammes *. 

The oil of cherry-laurel is distilled in the south of Switzerland 
and in Italy. In England it is only obtained as a bye-product in 
the distillation of cherry-laurel water ; in this way a quantity of 
about 24 ozs., obtained during the distillation of 300 lbs. of leaves, 
was examined by Tilden in 1875, and the results of the investiga- 
tion read before the Bristol Pharmacy Assoc. in that year. Ac- 
cording to that report, the oil was found to be of a pale yellow 
colour and held in suspension a few crystals, probably consist- 
ing of benzoic acid. The sp. gr. was found to be 1:0615. It 
contained rather under 2 per cent. of prussic acid, and had an 
odour much resembling that of oil of bitter almonds. When 
shaken with excess of strong solution of acid sulphite of sodium, 
all the aldehydic constituents of the oil were dissolved, leaving 
only 1 or 2 per cent. of an oily substance containing a brown resin. 
The sulphite, when crystallized out from the solution and distilled 
with sodium carbonate, yielded an essential oil which, after drying 
by calcic chloride, presented all the characteristics of pure benzoic 
aldehyde. It distilled without residue between 174° and 178° C. 
and its sp. gr. at 17° C. was found to be 10492. ‘The small amount 
of viscid oil left by the bisulphite when distilled with potassium 
bichromate and sulphuric acid, yielded no volatile product, and the 
crystalline deposit obtained after this treatment proved, on exami- 
nation, to be benzoic acid. These experimeuts therefore indicate 
that the essential oil of cherry-laurel leaves consists mainly of ben- 
zoic aldehyde accompanied by hydrocyanic acid and about 1 per 
cent. of a volatile oil (possibly benzoic alcohol), and minute quantities 
of an odorous resin. 

It is generally understood that, like the oil of bitter almonds, 
this oil does not exist ready-formed, but is produced by the action 
of water. ‘he principles contained in the leaves, which are the 
cause of this reaction (which, as Mr. Umney, who made the investi- 
gation, points out, is instantaneous), are yet unknown and merit 
investigation. 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] xviii. p. 170. 


HELIOTROPE. 187 


HELIOTROPE. 


About 84 different species of these shrubs are known and 
botanically identified. They are found chiefly in tropical and 
subtropical regions and a few are acclimatized to the temperate 
countries of Europe, where they are valued and cultivated on 
account of their fragrant blossoms, being readily propagated from 
seeds and cuttings. In private gardens and for commercial culti- 
vation, preference is generally given to the Heliotropium Peruvianum 
(Linn.) (syn. H. odoratum, Meench). This is a native of Peru 
and was introduced into Europe in 1757. It requires a rich soil 
and a sunny situation. In England, if grown in a conservatory 
and given free root-room by being planted in the ground, it will 
form a bush 8 or 10 feet high and flower throughout the year, but 
if grown out in the open air will be killed by the first winter. Its 
purple spikes of flowers are terminal and spirally revolute. There 
is a hybrid variety with larger flowers. In the South of France 
it will attain almost the size of the English “‘ May tree” and form 
a hedge. It is grown to rather a large extent for its exquisitely 
perfumed flowers. To extract the perfume, the system of maceration 
is employed; the flowers must be used immediately after being 
gathered, and the melted purified grease kept at as low a tempera- 
ture as possible, no more heat being applied than just sufficient to 
maintain the grease in a liquid state. The flowers are strained 
out and changed every 24 hours until the grease is saturated, it is 
then exhausted or washed with alcohol, as before described. 

The plant called “‘ Winter Heliotrope ” is the Tussilago fragrans 
(syn. Petasites fragrans and Nardosmia fragrans), sometimes 
called “Fragrant Coltsfoot.” It is a native of the South of 
Europe and a hardy plant in England, commencing to fiower 
early in December. The fragrance of its purple flowers, which 
are produced in great abundance, is very similar to that of 
the heliotrope in a mild form. This plant will thrive in any 
situation, even in the shade, but it prefers a damp clay soil. 
It requires no cultivation at all, as it spreads so freely as 
to be practically irrepressible; in fact it becomes a nuisance 
and difficult to eradicate. If once established, its strong running 
roots rapidly make a tour of the garden and send up shoots in the 
paths and other places where not wanted, covering everything and 


188 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


crowding out all other small plants. There is a white-flowered 
variety (Petasites alba). It is a smaller plant and the flowers are 
not quite so highly scented as the purple-flowered. 


Artificial Heliotrope. 


Piperonal, Cz;H,O;, commercially known as “ Heliotropine,” 
has a very agreeable odour very much like that of heliotrope. The 
starting-point in its manufacture is Piperine, Cy,7H,O3. Ground 
pepper, preferably the white Smgapore pepper, as it contains the 
largest amount of alkaloid (9°15 per cent.), is mixed with twice 
its weight of slaked lime and a sufficient quantity of water; the 
solution is then evaporated to dryness on a water-bath and the 
powder exhausted with commercial ether, from which the piperme 
can be obtained nearly pure on evaporation, in large crystals of a 
faint straw-yellow colour. To obtain it perfectly pure, it must be 
dissolved in alcohol and re-crystallized. Another process of pre- 
paring piperine is to exhaust the pepper with alcohol of sp. gr. 
0°833 and distil the tincture to the consistence of an extract. 
This extract is to be mixed with potash-lye, which dissolves the 
resin and leaves a green powder; by washing this in water, dis- 
solving in alcohol, crystallizing and re-crystallizing, it is obtamed 
colourless *. 

Piperine is converted into potassium piperate by boiling it for 
24 hours with its own weight of caustic potash and from 5 to 6 
parts of alcohol in a large retort, using an inverted Liebig’s con- 
denser. On cooling, the potassium piperate crystallizes out im 
shining yellow lamin. It is washed with cold alcohol and re-erys- 
tallized from hot water. If coloured, it is bleached by animal 
charcoal. As thus obtained, it is in nearly colourless crystals, 
which become yellow under the influence of light. 

One part of potassium piperate is dissolved in from 40 to 50 parts 
of hot water, and a solution of 2 parts of potassium permanganate 1s 
gradually poured into the hot liquid with constant stirrmg. Each 
drop of the latter is almost instantly dissolved, and the solution 
acquires a very pleasant odour. A pasty mass of brown manganic 
hydrate separates, which is placed on a filter and washed with hot 
water until the washings cease to smell of heliotropine. These 


* Poutet, Journ. de Chim. Med. i. p. 5381. 


HELIOTROPE. 189 


washings are added together and the whole distilled over an open 
fire. The first portions of the distillate contain the largest 
proportion of piperonal, the greater part of which crystallizes out 
on cooling. The remainder may be obtained by agitation with 
ether *. 

Piperonal crystallizes from water in colourless, transparent, 
highly lustrous prisms, an inch long. It is sparingly soluble in 
cold water, easily in cold alcohol, and in all proportions in boiling 
alcohol or ether. It melts exactly at 37° and boils without de- 
composition at 263°, forming a vapour which has a sp. gr. of 5:18 fF. 
Tiemann and Haarmann state { “that the odour of piperonal is 
possessed by ‘ vanillon,’ a kind of vanilla, which forms thick, fleshy 
capsules and is obtained from the West Indies. This sort of vanilla 
is employed in perfumery for the preparation of essence of 
heliotrope ; it contains no piperonal, but vanillin and an oil which 
is not yet identified. The perfumers, in preparing essence of 
heliotrope, add a little of this oil to the extract of vanillon. If a 
little be added to a solution of pure vanillin, both substances can 
be recognized by their smell for some time, but after standing for 
months the mixture acquires the smell of heliotrope.” 

The perfume of “ Heliotropine ” is completely destroyed by the 
action of direct sunlight; it is also injured by heat ; it should 
therefore be stored in a cool place in the dark, such as a cool cellar, 
and be kept in yellow glass bottles, the yellow glass intercepting 
the chemical rays. 


HawtTHorn. 


Under the pseudonym “ Aubepine” a preparation having the 
odour of Hawthorn (Crategus oxycantha) has recently been brought 
out by a Paris firm as a novelty, but it appears to be a definite 
chemical body, long known to chemists as anisic aldehyde (Para- 
methoxybenzaldehyde),C,H,O,. Cahours found § that it is formed, 
together with anisic acid, by the oxidation of oil of anise. It can 
be prepared by gently heating the oil of anise for about an hour 
with three times its volume of nitric acid of sp. gr. 1:106 (14° 
Beaumé). The heavy oil which is thus formed is washed with 


* Chemiker Zeitung, Feb. 1884, and Ann. Ch. Pharm. clii. p. 35. 
+ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. x. p. 1274. 

} Ibid. ix. p. 1287. 

§ Ann. Chim. Phys. [3] xiv. p. 484, and ibid. xxiii. p. 354. 


190 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


dilute potash and distilled. The distillate is agitated with a warm 
solution of acid sodium sulphite of sp. gr. 1°25, and the crystalline 
compound thus formed is collected on a funnel, thoroughly washed 
with alcohol, dissolved in as little luke-warm water as possible, and 
the solution heated with excess of strong sodic carbonate, when 
the hydride of anisyl (anisic aldehyde) separates out and floats on 
the surface. It is then purified by redistillation. Itis a yellowish 
liquid of sp. gr. 1:09 at 20°C. Its boiling-point is 253° to 255° C. 
It is almost insoluble in water, but soluble in all proportions in 
alcohol and ether. When exposed to the air, it gradually absorbs 
oxygen and is converted into anisic acid. It possesses the property, 
peculiar to aldehydes, of forming crystalline compounds with the 
acid sulphites of the alkali-metals. 

Rossel prepared anisic aldehyde by oxidizing oil of anise with 
chromic acid *. 300 grams of strong sulphuric acid and 850 grams 
of water are poured upon 200 grams of potassium dichromate ina 
capacious flask ; 100 grams of oil of anise are added after the 
liquid has completely cooled, and the whole is vigorously shaken, 
the temperature of the mixture rising to 70°-80°. When the 
reaction is complete, the liquid is diluted with water to one and a 
half times its volume and distilled, warm water being added through 
a funnel-tube to replace that which distils off. In this way a 
quantity of anisic aldehyde is obtained equal to 50 per cent. of the 
oil of anise used, together with 10 per cent. of anisic acid. Ac- 
cording to Rossel, pure anisic acid boils at 247°-248° C. under a 
pressure of 733°5 mm. (?) and has a density of 1°228 at 18° C. 


* Ann. Chem. Pharm. cli. p. 25. 


CINNAMON. 191 


CHAPTER X. 


CINNAMON.—CASSIA.—CLOVE. 


CINNAMON. 


Tue bark known as “Ceylon Cinnamon” is derived from the 
Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, Breyne, a native of Ceylon, where it 
is widely distributed in the forests at altitudes varying up to 
3000 feet, and one of its varieties is found as high as 8000 feet. 
It is a small evergreen tree with beautiful shining leaves, bearing 
panicles of greenish flowers somewhat resembling mignonette, 
but of an unpleasant odour. The aspect, height, and dimensions 
of the tree are very variable. Many varieties differmg greatly 
from each other have received distinctive specific names; the 
numerous intermediate forms merging one into the other. 

Although formerly exclusively derived from Ceylon, the tree is 
now grown in India, Mauritius, Cayenne Mahé, (one of the 
Seychelle Islands), and the Antilles, from seed obtaimed from 
Ceylon, and these barks now to some extent rival those of 
Ceylon. It is cultivated extensively in Jamaica, where it was 
introduced from Ceylon about 1782. 

In the humid forests of the South-west of India there are seven 
or eight clearly marked varieties which may be regarded as so 
many distinct species, but as they are so gradually lnked by 
intermediate forms, it is impossible to distinguish them specifically 
by any sufficiently constant feature. As they are found from the 
sea-level up to very great altitudes, it has been thought that their 
difference in appearance may be due to local influences. 

Several distinct varieties are known in Ceylon. The finest 
bark is produced by a choice cultivated variety of the tree, called 
Rasse curunda or “honey cinnamon.” This is the true C. zey- 
lanicum, Breyne, a tree of about 5 to 7 metres in height and 30 


192 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


to 40 centimetres in diameter round the trunk. The leaves and 
leaf-stalks of the young branches are glabrous; the leaves are 
nearly opposite, oblong-ovate, obtuse, the largest bemg from 11 to 
14 centimetres in length by 5 to 7 centimetres in width, but often 
much smaller, coriaceous, shining, and of a bright green above, 
glaucous beneath. Besides the middle vein of the leaf, there are 
two other veins on each side of it, also starting from the stalk, 
rounded to the shape of the edge of the leaf to nearly its ex- 
tremity. The leaves on drying acquire a reddish-brown colour, 
due to the oxidation of the essential oil contained in them. The 
small flowers are disposed in terminal panicles, appearing in 
January and February ; their strong perfume resembling a mix- 
ture of rose and lilac*. The berry is of a deep purplish-brown 
colour, shaped like an acorn, enclosed at the base by the calyx. 
It contains a soft green pulp and one seed. The berry ripens in 
August, and is gathered by the natives for the purpose of extracting 
the oil from the seed. 

The locality most suitable to the cultivation of the finest variety 
of the cinnamon tree is situated im the south-west of the Island of 
Ceylon, between Negumbo, Colombo, and Matura. The prin- 
cipal plantations are in the immediate neighbourhood of Colombo, 
within little more than half a mile of the Fort, occupying a tract 
of country upwards of ten miles in length. The road, commencing 
at the west gate of the Fort, and returning by the south gate, 
makes a winding circuit through the woods. 

The soil of these cinnamon gardens is mostly of a loose white 
sand over a rich sub-soil of sandy loam mixed with decayed 
vegetable matter. The situations most suitable to the growth of 
the cinnamon tree appear to be those which are fully exposed to 
the sun, but yet sheltered from the wind. Such shelter appears 
to contribute to its luxuriance, as it is found to grow with unusual 
vigour near to houses. When the ground is prepared for planting 
cinnamon, the low brushwood and young trees are cut down, 
but lofty trees are allowed to remain at intervals, as it is found 
that the tender plants thrive better under their shade than when 
exposed to the direct rays of the sun. The planting usually takes 
place at the end of autumn, when the seeds are ripe. A line is 
stretched across the ground, and guided by it the planter turns up 
about a foot square at intervals of 6 or 7 feet. The brushwood 
and branches having been previously burned, their ashes are then 

* These flowers are not as yet utilized, but their perfume is well known. 


CINNAMON. 193 


spread upon the newly-dug spots, and into each of them 4 or 5 
cinnamon berries are sown, in holes made with a dibble. They 
are then covered with earth, and branches are laid over the parts 
to prevent the earth from becoming parched and to protect the 
young plants as soon as they come up. This takes place in 
about 3 weeks. Sometimes the berries are sown in nurserics 
and the young plants are transplanted in October and November. 
In favourable situations plants attain the height of 5 or 6 feet 
in about 6 or 7 years, and a healthy bush will then afford 2 or 
3 shoots fit for peeling, but in unfavourable situations there is 
no yield until the eighth or the twelfth year. In a good soil, 
from 4 to 7 shoots may be cut from one tree every second year ; 
thriving shoots of 4 years’ growth are sometimes fit for cutting, 
but they may be sometimes cut at the age of 2 years. A greyish 
corky appearance is an indication of their fitness. 

As 4 or 5 seeds are usually sown in one spot, and in most 
seasons the greater part of them germinate, the plants grow in 
clusters, not unlike a hazel bush. If the season be unusually 
dry many of the seeds fail, and the want of moisture is often fatal 
to the young plants, so that it is sometimes necessary to plant a 
piece of ground several times successively. A plantation of 
cinnamon, even on good ground, cannot be expected to make 
much return until a lapse of 8 or 9 years. The plant is likewise 
sometimes propagated from shoots cut from large trees, or by 
layers, also by transplanting large stumps or divisions of a parent 
stump. The method of culture by seeds is considered the least 
advantageous, as it requires greater attention than other modes 
and the trees are longer before they arrive at perfection. If 
cultivated from shoots, the cuttings must be continually watered 
or they will not thrive. Those selected for the purpose should 
be very young, not having more than three leaves ; if older they 
die. The method by layers has been recommended because the 
numerous side-branches which issue from the bottom of the 
trunk always furnish a plentiful supply well adapted to the 
purpose. Plants raised in this way or from cuttings soon require 
pruning to prevent them growing too tall, they then assume the 
form of stocks or pollards. The transplanting of divisions of 
old roots is a practice which is much approved, as they yield 
shoots of useful size 12 months after they have been placed in 
the ground. Great care is, however, necessary in their removal, 
for should any of the rootlets, even of one tenth of an inch 

0 


194. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


diameter, receive injury, the whole root will certainly perish. 
Thunberg mentions a fifth method of cultivation, or rather a 
manner of obtaining cinnamon of superior quality :—* When the 
tree is cut down, and a fire kindled on the spot to consume the 
stumps, the roots afterwards throw out a number of long straight 
shoots which yield incomparably fine cinnamon. From these are 
cut the common walking-sticks, which, in appearance, resemble 
those of the hazel tree and retain the taste and smell of cinnamon. 

In taking the harvest, the shoots are not all cut at once, but 
by degrees, as they arrive at the required maturity. The shoots 
which are cut are usually from a half to three-quarters of an inch 
in diameter and from 3 to 5 feet in length. When the cultivator 
perceives a shoot of proper growth, he strikes an instrument 
which resembles a small bill-hook into it, obliquely. He then 
gently opens the gash to discover whether the bark separates 
freely from the wood; should this not be the case, he leaves the 
sucker for a future time. Some shoots never arrive at a fit 
state for decortication. Plants of several years’ growth some- 
times bear numerous marks of “ annual experiments ” made for 
the purpose of ascertaining whether the bark was in a fit state 
for removal. 

Two crops are gathered during the year; the first, and largest, 
lasts from April till the end of August, the second commences in 
November and finishes in January. The reason of selecting 
these periods is that the sap is more active after the rains, and 
then the bark is more easily detached from the wood. 

The branches are lopped off by means of a long knife in the 
shape of a hook or sickle. The leaves and outer bark are removed, 
and the inner bark is cut round at distances of about 30 centi- 
metres. ‘Two cuts are then made lengthways, one on either side of 
the branch, and when the branch is thick three cuts are made. 
The bark is then carefully removed by inserting a peeling-knife 
beneath it. When the bark adheres firmly the separation is 
facilitated by friction with the handle of the knife. 

After 24 hours each tube of bark is placed on a small stick of 
convenient thickness and the outer epidermis and green pulpy 
matter from the inner surface carefully scraped off with a knife. 
After a few hours the smaller quills are introduced into the 
larger ones, so forming solid sticks often measuring 40 inches in 
length. In this state they are left for a day in the shade and 


CINNAMON. 195 


are then placed on hurdles to dry in the sun. When sufficiently 
dry they are put up in bundles weighing about 30 lbs. each. 

The cinnamon thus prepared appears in commerce in the form 
of long brittle sticks of a pale yellow-brown cclour composed of 
numerous layers of bark, as thin as paper, rolled one over the 
other, the edges not overlapped but both edges rolled inwards, so 
forming a longitudinal groove the length of the stick. The taste 
is agreeably aromatic, warm, and sweet, and the odour very sweet. 
By distillation it yields about 4 to 1 per cent. of a very sweet and 
powerful essential oil. 

Cinnamon is re-baled on its arrival in London, and as the sticks 
are very brittle a quantity of chips and small pieces collect. These 
are collected and sold separately to druggists and distillers. They 
are often of excellent quality. 

The tips of the branches and the trimmings which collect are 
carefully dried and shipped to Europe, where they are distilled 
and the oil sold as “ Ceylon cinnamon oil.” The export of 
“ chips”’ from Colombo and Galle amounts to about 500,000 Ibs. 
annually, 

The leaves which are stripped from the branches are distilled 
in Ceylon, very seldom by the cinnamon growers themselves, but 
as arule by persons who pay the proprietor of an estate fifty to 
one hundred rupees a year for permission to use as many leaves as 
may be required for a still. From 80,000 to 100,000 ounces of 
“cinnamon-leaf oil”’ are annually distilled in Ceylon. 

Inspection and tasting are the methods resorted to for ascer- 
taiming the quality of cimmamon. The bark of Ceylon cinnamon 
is characterized by being cut obliquely at the bottom of the 
quill, whereas the other kinds are cut transversely. Inferior 
kinds are thicker, darker, browner, and have a more pungent 
taste, succeeded by a bitter taste. The most inferior quality of 
cinnamon bears such a resemblance to the best cassia that this 
last may be substituted for it or used as an adulterant to powdered 
cinnamon without being at once detected (of course when the 
bark is entire the difference is apparent). The following reactions 
are useful in examining powdered cinnamon :—Make a decoction 
of pulverized cinnamon of known purity, also a decoction of the 
suspected sample. Filter the decoctions when cold, and add to 
30 grammes of each one or two drops of tincture of iodine. 
The decoction of pure cinnamon is but very slightly affected, but 

02 


196 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


that containing cassia immediately takes a blackish-blue coloration. 
The cheap sorts of cassia known as Cassia vera can be distinguished 
from China cassia and from cinnamon by their richness in 
mucilage. This can be extracted by cold water as a thick glairy 
liquid, which, on the addition of corrosive sublimate or neutral 
acetate of lead (but not of alcohol), yields a dense, viscous pre- 
cipitate. 

When the Ceylon cinnamon trees become too old to produce 
good growth they are cut down, and the bark of the larger branches 
and of the trunk removed. This cinnamon is called Mate. The 
odour and taste are agreeable, but feeble, and poor in essential oil. 
An oil is also derived from the root; this is lighter than water and. 
smells of cinnamon and camphor mixed. 

Although the finest bark is derived from the cultivated trees, all 
forms of the tree yield a more or less odorous bark. The finest 
of the uncultivated trees are distinguished by the large size of 
their leaves, but yet the quality of the bark cannot always be 
judged by this sign, so the bark-gatherers remove a piece of the 
odourless, hazel-looking exterior bark, and taste the inner bark 
before commencing operations ; leaving those trees which are not 
of the quality sought. Some varieties, such as the C. multiflorum 
and C. ovalifolium, yield barks of such inferior quality that they 
are rarely gathered except to adulterate a finer description. 

Of Indian cinnamons there are the Tellicherry or Bombay cin- 
namon; in appearance it is equal to the Ceylon kind, but the 
internal surface of the bark is more fibrous and the flavour inferior, 
but it is superior to the Malabar variety which is grown on the 
Coromandel coast. This Madras or Malabar cinnamon approx- 
imates to Cassia lignea in thickness, but it is not the old Malabar 
cinnamon, which was the product of the Laurus Cassia, Linn., and 
which was destroyed by the Dutch. It is the Ceylon cinnamon 
propagated in India by the English, and has nearly all the characters 
and quality of the Ceylon; it is, however, distinguished by being 
paler in colour and having a more feeble and less permanent 
odour. It is made up in sticks as long as the Ceylon growth, but 
the pieces of bark are in reality shorter and the length of the 
sticks is due to the method of telescoping the strips of bark one 
in the other. The layers of bark forming the sticks are not so 
thin as those produced in Ceylon, and the sticks are thicker and 
more cylindrical. 


CINNAMON. 197 


The Java cmnamon ranks between Ceylon and Tellicherry in 
flavour, and is imported almost exclusively into Holland. For 
recent observations on “ China cinnamon ” see article on Cassia. 

The Cayenne cinnamon (also derived from C. Zeylanicum, 
Breyn.) is almost as thin and long in the bark as the Ceylon grown, 
but it is paler in colour, more feeble in flavour and odour, and its 
essential oil is more acrid. It is, however, frequently sold as 
Ceylon cinnamon. 

The same tree is grown in Brazil and in the Antilles, but the 
resulting barks are very variable in quality and always inferior to 
the Ceylon growth. The Brazilian has the least flavour of any ; 
it is spongy and almost inodorous. 

The cinnamon tree yields essential oils from its leaves, bark, 
and root, each oil differing in composition and value. The most 
valuable is the oil from the bark, consisting chiefly of cinnamic 
aldehyde, now called cinnamaldehyde, and a variable quantity of 
hydrocarbon, the nature of which has not yet been definitely de- 
termined. The oil of cinnamon bark is worth about eighteen times 
as much as the oil distilled from the leaf, which contains chiefly 
eugenol, a hydrocarbon having an odour of cymene, a little benzoic 
acid, and some cinnamaldehyde. The oil from the root contains 
cinuamaldehyde, hydrocarbon, and ordinary camphor. The oil of 
the root is hghter than water, that of the leaves and bark being 
heavier. 

Oil of cinnamon is obtained in Ceylon by macerating the 
inferior pieces of the bark and broken quills which are incapable 
of being worked in with the usual quills, reduced to coarse powder, 
in a saturated solution of common salt for two days, and then - 
submitting the whole to distillation. The yield of oil varies 
according to the quality of the bark, from 4} to 1 per cent. This 
oil is largely distilled in Ceylon. As imported into London it 
varies somewhat in colour from yellow to cherry-red and very 
much in value, the paler varieties are the most esteemed ; hence 
London druggists frequently redistil the imported oil, by which 
they procure two pale yellow oils; one lighter (amounting to about 
a quarter of the whole), the other heavier than water. The loss 
on this process being near 10 per cent. 

The oil distilled from the finer sorts of cinnamon bark is of a 
golden colour when fresh, becoming red by age. The sp. gr. of 
the fresh oil is 1:035. The oil obtained from the coarser bark is 


198 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


darker and brownish. Cinnamon oil of fine quality when brought 
into contact with the tongue should produce a taste of intense 
sweetness, far exceeding the sweetness of sugar: with an inferior 
quality a clove-like taste is first developed, and after a time a 
slight sweetness,—such an oil has no higher value than cassia oil. 
Cinnamon oil and cassia oil are said to be of thej same chemical 
composition, the marketable value of both being estimated by the 
amount of cinnamaldehyde contained in them ; methods of esti- 
mating this are also given under the article “ Cassia.” 

As before remarked, the principal constituent of oil of cinnamon 
is cinnamaldehyde, it also contains a hydrocarbon which has not 
been thoroughly investigated. These may be separated by 
bringing the oil into contact with concentrated nitric acid; the 
erystals which separate out in long oblique rhombic prisms or 


small plates are then decomposed by water into nitric acid and | 


the free aldehyde. Cinnamaldehyde may also be obtained pure 
by agitating oil of cinnamon with 3 or 4 volumes of a concentrated 
solution of acid potassium sulphite ; the compound, which separates 
im scales, is dried, washed in alcohol, again dried, and finally de- 
composed with dilute sulphuric acid*. According to Peine t 
an alcoholic solution of 50 parts of oil of cinnamon is agitated 
with 90 parts of a 50-per-cent. solution of sodium sulphite, and 
the compound, after washing with alcohol, decomposed with 
sulphuric acid ; 40 cubic centimetres of this, diluted with an equal 
volume of water, being employed for every 100 c. ec. of the sulphite 
solution. The aldehyde is then distilled with steam, the distillate 
extracted with ether, and after the evaporation of the ether, frac- 
tionated under diminished pressure. 

Cinnamaldehyde is a colourless, very pleasant smelling liquid, 
which decomposes on distillation at the ordinary pressure, but 
boils without alteration at 130° under a pressure of 30-40 mm. 

Cinnamaldehyde may be very easily prepared synthetically by 
allowing a mixture of 10 parts of benzaldehyde, 15 parts of 
acetaldehyde, 900 parts of water, and 10 parts of a 10-per-cent. 
solution of caustic soda to stand for 8 or 10 days at a temperature 
of 30°, the whole being frequently agitated and finally extracted 


* Ann, Chem. Pharm. lxxxy, p. 271. 
T Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xvii. p. 2109. 


CINNAMON. 199 


with ether *. Piria obtained it by the distillation of a mixture of 
calcium cinnamate and calcium formate f. 

Cinnamic acid was so named by Dumas and Peligot in 1884, who 
found that oil of cinnamon bears the same relation to it as oil of 
bitter almonds or benzoyl hydride to benzoic acid, and therefore 
gave it the name of cinnamyl hydride{. It also occurs in the 
so-called “ flowers ” of cinnamon, the unripe fruits of “ bastard 
cinnamon ” (Cassia) §. . 

Cinnamic acid occurs in liquid styrax, partly in the free state 
and partly as styracin or cinnyl cinnamate. The balsams of Peru 
and Tolu contain this acid in the free state and accompanied by 
the benzyl ether of cinnamic and benzoic acids. Both these acids 
have also been found in Sumatra benzoin. Cinnamic acid also 
occurs in the leaves of the Japanese garden plant, Enkyanthus 
Japonicus ||, and has been found in Globularia alypum and Globu- 
laria vulgaris ¥. 

Cinnamic acid can be obtained synthetically by heating benz- 
aldehyde with acetyl chloride to 120-130°**. It is also formed 
when benzaldehyde and glacial acetic acid are heated together to 
16° in presence of hydrochloric acid or zine chloride++. Perkin 
found that the acids of the cinnamic series may be synthetically 
prepared by heating benzaldehyde with the anhydride of a fatty 
acid and the anhydrous sodium salt of the fatty acid. In order 
to prepare cinnamic acid in this way, a mixture of 1 part of 
‘sodium acetate, 2 parts of benzaldehyde, and 3 parts of acetic 
anhydride is boiled for a day, or heated for 5 to 6 hours in a 
sealed tube at 180°. The product is boiled with water to volatilize 
any unaltered benzaldehyde, and the impure cinnamic acid, which 
crystallizes out on cooling, is washed and dissolved in hot sodium- 
carbonate solution; the liquid is allowed to cool and is then 
filtered in order to remove any oily impurity, the cimnamic acid 
being precipitated with hydrochloric acid and finally crystallized 


* Peine, Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xvii. p. 2117. 

+ Ann. Chem. Pharm. c. p. 104. 

{ Ann. Chem. Pharm. xiy. p. 50, and Ann. Chim, Phys. lvii. p. 300. 
§ Ann. Chem. Pharm. xxxiv. p. 147. 

|| Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xx. ref. 66. 

q Ann. Chim. Phys. [5] xxviii. p. 67. 

** Ann. Chem. Pharm. c. p. 125. 

++ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. iil. p. 412. 


200 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


from dilute alcohol. According to the reactions which take place 
in this operation, cinnamic anhydride is formed and is then 
decomposed by the boiling with water. When acetic anhydride 
and benzaldehyde are heated together no cimnamic acid is formed, 
benzidene diacetate being in this case the product. The sodium 
acetate therefore acts as a dehydrating agent, or to bring about a 
decomposition of the benzidene diacetate which is first formed. 
Perkin found that the sodium acetate can be replaced by butyrate 
or valerate without affecting the production of cmnamic acid *. 

When benzaldehyde is heated with acetic anhydride, benzidene 
diacetate is formed, as above menticned. If this be heated with 
sodium acetate, cinnamic acid is formed, and can be even more 
readily obtained by Caro’s process of heating benzidene chloride 
with sodium acetate +, the diacetate bemg, however, the first 
product. 

Cinnamic acid is also formed when benzaldehyde is heated to 
140° with malonic acid. Cinnamic acid was formerly prepared 
from liquid styrax, but is now manufactured by the method 
discovered by Caro, which can also be used for the preparation 
of substituted cinnamic acids by the employment of substitution 
products of benzidene chloride f. 

Cinnamic acid dissolves in 3500 parts of water at 17°; it is 
much more readily soluble in boiling water and crystallizes from it 
in lustrous plates, while it separates from alcohol in monosymme- 
tric prisms, melting at 133°. It sublimes in a similar manner to 
benzoic acid, but somewhat less readily, is volatile in steam and 
boils at 300°-304°, but partially decomposes on continued boiling 
into styrolene and carbon dioxide. It yields benzene in consider- 
able quantity on fusion with caustic soda§, while it is resolved 
into benzoic acid and acetic acid when caustic potash is em- 
ployed ||. Oxidizing agents convert it first into benzaldehyde, so 
that it can in this way be readily distinguished from benzoic 
acid §. It is converted into hydrocinnamic acid by sodium 
amalgam and water. 


* Journ. Chem. Soe. 1877, i. p. 838. 

+ Roscoe & Schorlemmer, Org. Chem. iii. pt. v. p. 214. 
{ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xy. p. 969. 

§ Ibid. xiii. p. 1257. 

|| Ann. Chem, Pharm. lxxxvi. p. 264, and exlvii. p. 112. 
q Ibid. lv. p. 1. 


CINNAMON. 201 


Methyl cinnamate forms crystals which have a very pleasant 
odour, melt at 33°°4 and boil at 263°. 

Ethyl cinnamate is a pleasant smelling liquid boiling at 271° ; 
it is contained in liquid storax. 

Benzyl cinnamate (Cinnamein) is a constituent in Peru balsam, 
aud is formed when sodium cinnamate is heated with benzyl 
chloride. It crystallizes in prisms which melt at 39°. 

Hydrocinnamic acid is prepared by heating one part of cinna- 
mic acid for an hour with four parts of hydriodic acid of boilmg 
point 127° and a little amorphous phosphorus. The acid separates 
out on cooling in a solid cake, which is dissolved in ammonia and 
precipitated by hydrochloric acid in the filtered solution. The 
hydrocinnamic acid which separates is then distilled; the almost 
pure compound, containing only a small quantity of an oily 
substance, passes over at about 280°*. Hydrocinnamic acid 
possesses a characteristic goat-like odour, melts at 47°°5, and 
solidifies on cooling in long brittle needles; it boils at 280°, is 
readily volatile with steam, dissolves in 168 parts of water at 20°, 
more readily in hot water, and separates in oily drops when the 
solution is slightly cooled. It is readily soluble in alcohol, from 
which it separates in indistinct crystals +. 

Ethyl hydrocinnamate is a powerfully refractive liquid which 
possesses an overpowering odour resembling that of pineapple, it 
boils at 247°-249°. 

Oil of Cinnamon leaf is distilled in Ceylon from the leaves of 
the Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. Both in appearance and properties 
it very closely resembles the oils of cloves and pimento. It 
has a brownish colour and an aromatic penetrating odour. Its 
taste is exceedingly pungent. As examined by Stenhouse { its 
specific gravity is 1:053. It has an acid reaction, and when 
treated with solutions of potash or ammonia it solidifies, forming 
a butyraceous crystalline magma. Like clove and pimento oil, 
it is essentially a mixture of eugenol and a neutral hydrocarbon 
of the formula C,,H,,. Cinnamon-leaf oil is remarkable, however, 
for containing a small quantity of benzoic acid. When the crude 
oil was distilled a colourless oil came over, while the residue in 
the retort became gradually darker. The last portions of the oil 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xiii. p. 1680. + Ibid. xviii. p. 321. 
{ Pharm. Journ. Jan. 1855. 


202 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


which passed over, on being set aside for some time, deposited 
erystals which had all the appearance and properties of benzoic 
acid. Stenhouse adds that the quantity of these crystals at his 
disposal was so small that they could not be subjected to analysis. 
He proved them not to be cimnamic acid, for on treating them 
with a hot solution of hypochlorite of lime they did not give the 
very characteristic reaction of cinnamic acid, viz., “the produc- 
tion of that singular chlorinated oil which is always produced 
when cinnamic acid is treated in this way.” They were proved 
to be benzoic acid in the following way :—‘ When the last por- 
tions of the oil which had come over, together with the residue 
remaining in the retort, were digested with strong nitric acid, 
along with much oxalic acid, a small quantity of another kind of 
erystals were obtained, which in appearance and properties agreed. 
perfectly with nitrobenzoic acid. The first portions of the colour- 
less oil which distilled over were again rectified, when the boiling- 
point was by no means constant, though the greater portion of 
the oil came over at a temperature approaching the boiling-point 
of eugenol *. 

“The oil was treated with an excess of potash, and the hydro- 
carbon which did not combine with the alkali was drawn off by 
a pipette. It was next treated with fused potash, then with 
calcic chloride, and lastly rectified over potassium. In this way a 
colourless, highly refractive liquid was obtained, the greater 
portion of which distilled over between 160° and 165° C. Its 
sp. gr. was 0°862 and its odour closely resembled that of cymene, 
the result of its analysis agreeing exactly with the formula C,H, 
(a body which is contained in several essential oils, or which can 
at all events be withdrawn from them). 

“The portion of the oil which dissolved in potash lye was 
heated for a considerable time, with agitation, in order to drive off 
the last portions of the hydrocarbon which might be adhering to 
it. It was next saturated with sulphuric acid and the liberated 
eugenol still further purified. It agreed perfectly in its cha- 
racters with those ascribed to eugenol by Bonaster, Ettling, and 


* In Stenhouse’s original paper he calls this “ eugenic acid,’—a term which 
was formerly applied to eugenol because this liquid forms crystallizable com- 
pounds with the alkaline bases. (Although Stenhouse’s researches may now 
appear antique, they are yet of interest to instance his method of procedure.) 


CASSIA. 203 


Boeckmann. Its boiling-point was found to be 242° C., and its 
sper 1-076 * 2: 

An examination of pure cinnamon-leaf oil from cimnamon 
trees cultivated in the Seychelle Islands has been made by Messrs. 
Schimmel (1890). The oil was found to correspond remarkably 
with the thin cinnamon-root oil from Ceylon. It consists chiefly 
of eugenol and its sp. gr. is 1°060. 


Cassia. 


The dried bark known in commerce as “ Cassia Bark,” “ Cassia 
lignea,” and “China Cinnamon ” is produced in the hot climates 
of Asia from several species of Cinnamomum. The trees differ 
considerably from each other in foliage, inflorescence, and aro- 
matic properties, but the distinctive difference of several species 
has not yet been clearly established. 

Cassia lignea or China cinnamon is annually brought in large 
quantities to Canton from the province of Kwangse in the south 
of China, whose principal city, Kwei Lin Foo (literally the city 
of the Forest of Cassia trees), derives its name from the forests 
of Cassia around it. 

Until as lately as the year 1884 the exact botanical source of 
Chinese Cassia lignea was not known with certainty, although it 
was generally attributed to the tree now proved to yield it, viz., 
Cinnamomum Cassia, Blume, which is cultivated in China and is 
probably a native of Cochin China. 

The investigations which led to the identification of the tree 
were made by Mr. Charles Ford, the Superintendent of the 
Botanical and Afforestation Department, Hong Kong, who, with 
the consent of his Government, proceeded to the Cassia planta- 
tions on the West River for the purpose of reporting on the 
cultivation and collection of Cassia lignea, as well as of bringing 
back for distribution from the Hong Kong Botanic garden 
living and dried botanical specimens of the authentic plant. He 
completely succeeded in the object of the expedition, and described 
his journey and its results in a Report to the Hong Kong Govern- 
ment. This Report was printed as a Government Notification 
(No. 339), and was republished by Mr. Thiselton Dyer, with 


* This boiling-point differs slightly from the recorded observations of other 
chemists; see ‘ Hugenol” in the Article on Cloves. 


204 ODOROGRAPHIA, 
comments thereon, in the Journal of the Linnean Society, Decem- 
ber 1882 ; the following details are abstracted therefrom :— 

“ There are three chief districts where the Cassia is cultivated, 
viz. :—Taiwu, in Lat. 23° 34’ N., and Long. 110° 18’ E., in the 
Kwangsi province; Lukpo, in Lat. 23° 6’ N., and Long. 112° 
24' E.; and Loting, m Lat. 22° 52’ N., and Long. 111° 8’ E., 
both in the Kwangtung province. These are the market towns 
of the district ; but the Cassia is cultivated over a large area of 
country stretching to considerable distances from the towns, the 
extent of which could not be ascertained owing to the unreliable 
accounts given by the different people questioned, who either had 
very vague notions of area, or were disinclined, as they usually 
are, to give information to foreigners. Taiwu is about four or five 
miles from the West River; but the nearest Cassia plantations 
are situated 25 or 30 miles further in a southern or south- 
westerly direction, to which there is no communication by river. 
Taiwu is about 180 miles west of Canton. The Taiwu people said 
that the area of cultivation was not increasing. ‘The next most 
important, if not the most important, district is the Loting one, 
commencing at about 8 or 10 miles distant from the city of 
Loting. After leaving the West River about 80 miles of the 
Loting River—the Nam Kong—has te be traversed before 
reaching the city, and from there the distance to the plantations 
has to be accomplished overland. One of the largest cultivators 
said that in this district there were about 1,000,000 maus (about 
52,600 English acres) under cultivation, and that the area was 
greatly extending every year. The cultivation of Cassia has been 
carried on here for only about 25 years, i.e., since the Tai-Ping 
rebellion, at which time, for the preservation of the plants from 
destruction by the rebels, they were transferred from a district 
further south, at which it is reported the cultivation of Cassia 
was abandoned when it was commenced at Loting. The next 
district is that of Lukpo, which is much less important than the 
other two. The city of Lukpo is situated on the northern bank 
of the West River, and the plantations are situated at about 
15 miles between the nearest one and the city. In addition 
to these places, there are several small localities near the West 
River at intermediate places, where small patches of Cassia are 
grown ; and as the quantities of bark obtained are too small to 
send to market towns, it is brought off by small boats and sold to 


CASSIA. 205 


larger boats which carry produce down the river. About six 
miles south-west of the small town of To Shing, which is situated 
on the southern bank of the river, about 25 miles above the con- 
fluence of the Loting and West rivers, there are some plantations, 
from which, however, no bark has been obtaimed for two years, 
and no new plantations made for ten, because the low prices 
which can now be obtained for the bark do not leave any profit 
to the producers. ‘This was the only instance which came to my 
knowledge of the decrease of the trade in the Cassia-production, 
although it is said that the Java Cassia trade, in consequence of 
the lower prices at which the Cassia can be produced, is cutting 
out and crippling the China trade.” 

From each of the districts of Taiwu, Lukpo, and Loting 
Mr. Ford obtained and sent to Kew copious and excellent speci- 
mens, which were examined by Professor Oliver and all found to 
belong to the same species, which was undoubtedly the Cinna- 
momum Cassia, Blume. Mr. Thiselton Dyer adds that Mr. Ford 
in his Report further states that “ this is the only tree from which 
Cassia-bark, ‘ buds,’ or leaves of commerce in China (so far as 
he could ascertain from personal inspection and reports) are 
obtained. All the trees seen in the districts of Taiwu, Loting, 
and Lukpo, and intermediate localities where Cassia was grown in 
smaller quantities, were of this species, nor were there, apparently, 
distinct varieties of the species in cultivation. The cultivators 
and other natives were much interrogated as to whether they 
knew or had heard of any other tree which yielded the products 
under notice, and the invariable reply was that there was no other 
kind. There is therefore I think no doubt but writers who have 
named other kinds as Cassia-yielding trees of China have been 
mistaken or misinformed. .... Cinnamomum Burmanni, Blume, 
which it has been supposed may probably yield in part the Cassia- 
bark of the Canton market, does not, I feel sure, supply Cassia- 
bark to any extent. I did not see it anywhere cultivated ; nor 
was it seen growing wild in any but very small quantities, and 
these wild trees bore no signs of having been cut, as had the 
Cassia trees; many natives were asked if it was ever used, but, 
with one exception, all denied that it afforded any Cassia-bark. 
‘The one exception said that its bark was sometimes, but rarely, 
used to adulterate the true Cassia-bark.” “Mr. Ford on his 
return journey paid a visit to the well-known Chinese botanist, 


206 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Dr. Hance, H.M. Vice-Consul at Whampoa, who identified the 
specimens of the Cassia-lignea tree collected by Mr. Ford as 
belonging to Cinnamomum Cassia. There is, in fact, in the Kew 
Herbarium a specimen of the same species collected by Dr. Hance 
in 1876. This specimen is the material upon which the plate 
given by Bentley and Trimen (Med. Plants) is based, and repre- 
sents no doubt the true plant.” 

“ Cinnamomum Cassia was first described by Blume m 1825 *. 
The species was apparently founded on cultivated specimens from 
Java, where Blume states it was ‘ ex China introductum,’ 

“The Kew Herbarium possesses a cultivated Java specimen 
contributed by the Leyden Herbarium. This is no doubt an 
authentic type of the plant described by Blume, and Professor 
Oliver finds that it agrees precisely with the plant collected by 
Mr. Ford on the West River. It may therefore be considered 
finally settled on the one hand that the Chinese Cassia-lignea 
plant is really the Cinnamomum Cassia, Blume, and on the other 
hand that the plant cultivated in Java is identical with that now 
known to be the source of the spice in China. 

“Tt is remarkable that though the cultivation of the Cassia- 
lignea tree has apparently been carried on in Southern China 
from time immemorial, it does not appear to be indigenous there. 
In Cochin China, however, there appears to be some probability 
of its being really wild.” 

The exact part of Cochin China where the Cassia-tree grows 
wild is mentioned in ‘ Pharmacographia, 2nd ed. p. 320, as 
follows :—‘‘ The French expedition of Lieutenant Garnier for 
the exploration of the Me Kong and of Cochin China (1866-68) 
found Cassia growing in about N. Lat. 19° in the forests of the 
valley of the Se Ngum, one of the tributaries on the left bank of 
the Me Kong, near the frontiers of Annam. A part of this 
Cassia is carried by land into China, while another part is 
conveyed to Bangkok in Siam.” The thick bark of the old 
uncultivated trees growing near the Annam frontier is very highly 
valued by the Chinese on account of its supposed medicinal 
properties, especially a bark called Ching Fa Kwei from trees 
growing on the Ching Fa mountain in Annam fF. 

In the Report of Mr. Ford above referred to the following 
account of the mode of collecting and preparing Cassia lignea is 


* Bijdragen Fl. Nederl. Indié, ii. p.570. + Pharm. Journ. [3] xxi. p. 123. 


CASSIA, 207 


given :—“‘ When the trees are about six years old, the first cut of 
bark is obtained. The season for barking commences in March 
and continues until the end of May, after which the natives say 
the bark loses its aroma and is therefore not removed from the 
trees. The branches, which are about an inch thick, being cut 
to within a few inches of the ground, are carried to houses or 
sheds in the vicinity of the plantations. 

* All the small twigs and leaves being cleared off, a large-bladed 
knife, with the cutting-edge something like the end of a budding- 
knife, is used to make two longitudinal slits, and three or four 
incisions, at sixteen inches apart, round the circumference through 
the bark; the bark is then loosened by passing underneath it a 
kind of slightly curved horn knife with the two edges slightly 
sharpened. Pieces of bark sixteen inches long and half the cir- 
cumference are thus obtained. The bark, after its removal and 
while it is still moist with sap, is then laid with the concave side 
downwards, and a small plane passed over it, removing the epi- 
dermis. After this operation the bark is left to dry for about 
twenty-four hours and then tied up in bundles about 18 inches in 
diameter and sent into the merchants’ houses in the market towns. 

“The leaves which are cleared from the branches that are barked 
are carefully preserved and dried. They afford an oil by distilla- 
tion. A large quantity of leaves are sent to Canton, where I was 
told the operation of distillmg is performed. The twigs are 
removed from the cut branches at the same time as the leaves. 
They are a marketable commodity for native use.” 

The twigs and trimmings of the branches are importedinto Europe 
as “chips” and distilled. In the European markets the Chinese 
Cassia lignea is the most esteemed of all the Cassia-barks, and is 
the one which most nearly approaches to cinnamon in its proper- 
ties, but its substance is thicker, its appearance coarser, its colour 
darker, browner and duller; its flavour, though approaching to 
that of cinnamon, is much less sweet and fine ; it is more pungent 
and followed by a bitter after-taste. The pieces are not uniform 
in size or regular in shape, and are not enclosed one in the other 
like cinnamon. The epidermis has been removed with less care 
than is taken with cinnamon. 

Cinnamomum Cassia is botanically very closely allied to C. ob- 
tusifolium, Nees, which is found on the Khasia Hills in the East 
of Bengal ; the Cassia lignea of this tree is taken to Calcutta for 


208 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


shipment. Three species of Cinnamomum are found in this region 
growing at elevations of from 1000 to nearly 4000 feet and 
yielding barks of a more or less cinnamon-like flavour; these are 
the C. obtusifolium, Nees, C. pauciflorum, Nees, and C. tamala, 
Nees and Eberm. 

The Cinnamomum iners, Reinw., a very variable species found 
in India, Ceylon, Tavoy, Java, Sumatra, and other islands of the 
Indian Archipelago, is possibly a simple variety of C. Zeylanicum, 
but is distinguished from it by its leaves being paler and thinner 
and differently veined; also by its bark being of a different 
flavour. This tree probably furnishes the bark known as the 
Cassia or Wild Cinnamon of Southern India. 

A certain portion of the Cassia of Northern India is probably 
yielded by the C. Tamala, Nees and Eberm., which, besides being 
found on the Khasia Hills, grows in the regions of Silhet, Sikkim, 
Nepaul, and Kumaon. It has also been found in Australia. 

Large quantities of a thick-bark Cassia, known to merchants as 
“ Cassia Vera,” are occasionally shipped from Batavia; these are 
probably derived from the C. cassia, Blume, and C. Burmannit, 
Blume, which grow in Sumatra and Java; this last variety also 
furnishing the “ Cassia Vera” of Manilla, the epidermis of which 
is sometimes very imperfectly removed, being warted aud covered 
with crustaceous lichen. 

Cassia buds. (Flores cassie immature ; Clavelli cinnamomi.)— 
The calyces of the immature flowers of the same tree which yields 
Cassia lignea. Cassia-buds bear some resemblance to cloves, but 
are smaller; or to nails with round heads; they have the odour 
and. flavour of Cassia lignea or cinnamon. They are gathered in 
the Kwangtung Province in China when about one fourth of their 
normal size, and shipped from Canton. 

Buds and the seeds which are annually required for sowing are 
obtained from the trees, ten years and upwards of age, that are 
left standing at about 50 and 100 feet apart amongst the trees 
which are cut down every six years for their bark. These seed- 
bearing trees are not cut unless there is a demand for the very 
thick bark on their trunks, when some of the trees which can be 
conveniently spared are sacrificed. In the south of India the 
Cassia-buds are gathered when in a more mature state from one 
of the varieties of Cinnamomum iners, Reinw., but they are very 


CASSTA. 209 


inferior to Chinese cassia-buds. Cassia-buds yield a volatile oil 
by distillation. 

Oil of Cassia is considered to be exactly similar in a chemical 
point of view to oil of cinnamon, but not so fine in flavour, 

Cassia oil distilled by the Chinese is frequently adulterated 
with colophony, and as this has a greater sp. gr. than the oil they 
add petroleum to regulate the consistence and sp. gr. With the 
view of checking the sale of this systematically adulterated oil, 
Messrs. Schimmel & Co. of Leipzig have published a Circular 
dated October 1889, giving very useful data respecting the pure 
oil, and describing methods of detecting the adulteration. As 
Messrs. 8. & Co. have undertaken this trouble for the benefit of 
consumers, some extracts from the Circular may here be given :— 


The specific gravity of ‘ Extra pale Colophony ” is. 1:070 
The specific gravity of “ Pale Colophony” is. . . 1:110 


The darker sorts occurring in trade, to judge from the colour 
of the adulterated oil, are still heavier. Therefore, as the sp. gr. 
of pure Chinese Cassia oil amounts on an average to 1:060, any oil 
heavier than 1-070 must always be looked upon with suspicion. 
The table on p. 210 details the properties of pure Cassia oils 
and of adulterated Cassia oils examined by 8S. & Co. 

The demands to be met by a good marketable cassia oil result, 
ipso facto, from the analyses. Briefly they are as follows :— 

1. It should have at 15° C. a specific gravity of 1°050 to 
1-070. 

2. On distilling, about 90 per cent. of pure cassia oil should 
pass over. ‘The residue must not become solid after cooling 
and take the character of a brittle resin, but must remain, 
at least, semi-fluid. It may amount to from 6 to 7 per 
cent., but is in no case to be more than 10 per cent. 

No practical value for the detection of resin can be attached to 
testing the solubility of the oil in more or less diluted spirit, as is 
proved by the examination of oils which had been purposely mixed 
with resin and petroleum. 

As a matter of course it is possible that adulteration with fatty 
oil will again occasionally be resorted to and that the fluid resin 
obtained by distilling will amount to more than 10 percent. Any 
such oil must of course be rejected. 

P 


210 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


aon . Sp. gr. | Rectification 
CagH. flee at 20° C.| residue. 


per 
cent. 


1. Cassia oil. Own distillation from Cassia Pale yellow. | 1-035 |54  Liquid.| 


chips; age 4 months.............. 
Do. Do. from Cassia buds, age 4months| Brownish. 1026 | 4-4 ma 


| 
Do. Brand AYONG; age 60 to 80 years. ue | 


Co kk 


Marks of the cases <Bvac> Do. 1:062 |6. ss 


4. Do. Brand AYONG; age 3 + i 
Yellow. 1060 |8. « 


| : 
|» 1:060 |7. ” 


Marks of the cases 
sie 1865. 


. Brand AYONG ; age 22 en 


was 
=) 
io) 


Marks of the cases E a & Co. 


Season 1867-8 


: HOP LEE 
6. Do. Brand A.CHIP > Very old. 


Marks of cases : 


. Do. Brand TAC FOONG; age unknown. | 
Cases marked Deetjen '&Van Bergen. { 


7a. Do. Brand YING CHONG o at 
yi Rc near Catal a eae Yellow. 1055 |7. ” 


Do. 1059 i 3 


J 


Pale yellow. | 1060 | 55 ” 


The adulterated Cassia oils gave the following results :— 


we Z Sp. er. | Rectification 
Origin. Colour. at 30° C.| residue. 
per 
cent. 
BP AV AN IE OONG ra tases. i> cose bce Reddish brown.| 1:057 | 26. Solid. 
9, DOR rit oicis cca Sa eee Do. 1:059 | 23. _ 
LOMCHBONGBUOONG ts tec., 0s: aa. . eee Do. 1:056 | 24, 3 
tal Dit Cer tec s . sic as ales Do. 1051 | 26. m 
/12. DVO Ae ee ets he scsi shoe Dark brown. | 1:06] ) S35 
iS! ACUI AS eee o, . x sea Do. 1:060 | 38 


| iv 7 
| 


The last two oils, taken from the most recent arrivals, were of a 
syrup-like consistence, 


—~- 


CASSIA. 211 


The following is a description of a simple practical process re- 
commended for estimating the rectification residue of a sample :— 

“ Weigh out about 50 grammes of the oil into the small fraction 
retort a, connect it with the cooling-tube 4, and place the thermo- 
meter c, by means of a perforated cork, in such a manner as the 
bulb of the thermometer stands about 5 or 10 centimétres above 
the fluid. The retort may not be more than half full. 


Fig. 8. 


= 


ammo eae ere 
————————— 


= = 


es 


‘To prevent bursting, the heat must be applied by degrees. For 
this purpose the flame of a Bunsen-burner or of a spirit-lamp must 
be moved to and fro underneath the retort. At first some water 
escapes with a crackling noise from the fluid. Usually the oil 
commences to boil at about 200°, and then the thermometer rises 
quickly to 240°. The bulk of the oil distils over between 240° 
_ and 260°. At last, white vapours develop in the retort, the ther- 
mometer rising at the same time from 280° to 290°. When this 
takes place, the distillation is to be interrupted; the residue is 
allowed to cool in the retort and is weighed with it. (The retort 

P2 


212 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


having, of course, been previously tared.) If the residue becomes 
hard and solid after cooling, the oil is to be considered adulterated. 
Genuine non-adulterated oil also leaves a residue (up to about 10 
per cent.), but it never becomes solid and remains in a semi-fluid 
state, even after having cooled off completely. 

“Tt will be observed that samples 1 and 2 of the foregoing list 
show a materially lower sp. gr. than the pure Chinese oils. This 
is probably in consequence of the more perfect distillatory appa- 
ratus employed by Messrs. Schimmel, so enabling more efficiently 
the removal of the highest boiling ingredients of the oil, than it is 
possible for the Chinese to do with their primitive apparatus. 
It may also be owing to the superiority of the raw material 
employed. 

“The market value of commercial oil of Cassia is estimated by the 
percentage of cinnamaldehyde present in the sample. The 
amount of cinnamaldehyde in the parcels above referred to was 
estimated by Messrs. S. & Co. as follows :— 


Pure Oils. 
INO aS teers: 88°9 per cent. 
RR MUR Ee 80°4 , 
S Pears be ats Gor POR UE Tae 
ASS Rae (294 oes 
J See oe eye 894, 
Ga) heen (6G) 
fale ye a es» 78°4 i, 
Adulterated Oils. 
NOS va. 5, cue 58:0 per cent. 
ee Sme i .! Go 3 
1 ASM REA Sees Ot. are 
MMi icc eee oe) ee 
| a A Oo ie 
13, AAA ee i 47°] 


“The amount of cinnamaldehyde was found by ascertaining the 
percentage of non-aldehydes after separating the cinnamaldehyde 
by bisulphite of sodium. 


CASSIA. 213 


““' The results show that every adulteration diminishes the amount 
of aldehyde. As tothe normal amount of cinnamaldehyde in cassia 
oil, the matter up to the present has not been sufficiently investi- 
gated, but an oil containing less than 70 per cent. may be considered 
as adulterated, and probably an oil with less than 75 per cent. can 
be looked upon with suspicion. 

“Tn earlier years cassia oil was also adulterated, especially with 
fixed oils ; but pure cassia oil prevailed in trade and the adulter- 
ation was carried on in rather more moderate limits. Different 
‘kinds of old oil examined by Messrs. S. & Co. gave the following 
results :— 


No. 14, age'9 years ......... 79 per cent. cinnamaldehyde. 
15) 7) UnKROWM 2.55. TO a ae 
16, 22 Sh 3 000% 73 » oy) 


“No. 14 left a residue from which a fatty oil to the amount of 
10 per cent. was isolated. This oil would have shown, before the 
adulteration, about 90 per cent. of cinnamaldehyde.” 

This important Circular further adds :—“ We are occupied with 
a thorough investigation of pure Cassia oils and have stated that 
the chief constituent of the non-aldehydes is the Acetic ether of 
Cinnamyl. In submitting the non-aldehydes to repeated fractional 
distillation in vacuo, we found the fraction boiling at 135°-145° 
(at 11 mm. atmospheric pressure) to be entirely the above-named 
ether. The cinnamic alcohol, obtained by saponification, crys- 
tallizes in ether, in white solid crystals, boils at 137° (at 11 mm. 
atmospheric pressure), and has a somewhat hyacinth-like odour. 

“ Besides this ether—if a conclusion from its boiling-point and 
the alcohol obtained is allowed—the presence of acetic: ether of 
phenylpropyl is very probable. 

“ Terpenes of the constitution C,)H,, are excluded. The presence 
of sesquiterpenes and polyterpenes is only presumed and requires 
further confirmation. 

“ Free cinnamic acid, formed by oxidation of the cinnamaldehyde 
when in contact with the open air, was found in both the old and 
the fresh distilled oils, but always in very small proportions.” 

A short time after this Circular was issued, the Chinese, finding 
they were detected, gave up the “resin-adulteration,” and the 
samples of Cassia oil offered for sale in Hong Kong were fairly 
p ure so far as the resinous contents were concerned. 


214 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The oils had the normal sp. gr., were thin and beautifully clear, 
showing no adulteration with either resin, petroleum, or fatty oils, 
but they showed a striking lack of sweetness and left on the tongue 
an unpleasant bitter taste. Upon determining the proportion of 
cinnamaldehyde, it was found to vary from 49°4 to 69°8 per cent., 
as follows :— 


Investigations from 4th November to 28th December, 1889. 


Brand. 
CHEONG LOONG. Sp. gr. 1:060. Resin 7:7 p. c., soft. Cinnamaldehyde 55 p.c. 
Do. » 1060. » 60 4 » ” 589 ,, 
Do. = 1-068) Bs Oe eee a 49-4 ,, 
YAN LOONG. AOL A ee OL ena s 698 ,, 
CHEON LOONG. ou) SOGOS | aoe Cages ee 7 615 ,, 


“ Notwithstanding the low percentage of cinnamaldehyde, 
no direct adulteration can be proved in these oils. The non- 
aldehydes consist almost exclusively of acetic ether of cinnamyl 
(CH;.CO.OC,H,). These oils were worth hardly as much as 
those adulterated with 40 per cent. of resin. On this fraud being 
unmasked, the following parcels were offered. 


“ Investigations from 12th to 26th March, 1890. 


Brand. 
CHEONG LOONG. Sp. gr. 1061. Resin 4’6 p. c., soft. Cinnamaldehyde 77°7 p.c. 
Do. 4) LBL 5 ee Or oes A (hale 
YAN LOONG. pi COGO a0 ae 5 rie 
YE TAC. pl OG a) ey NIG re ae . 10:35, 
Do. sn LOGIE. fn pe uO fans i (sae, 


*“ Since, as before stated, the quality and value of oil of cassia 
depend entirely upon the amount of cinnamaldehyde it contains, a 
scientific estimate of the worth of an oil is to be reached only by 
determining the proportion of aldehyde present. One method of 
doing so is as follows :— 

“75 grammes of the oil are mixed in a good-sized flask with 300 
grammes of a boiling 30-per-cent. solution of bisulphite of sodium. 
The acid sulphite compound (C,H;.CH:CH .COH . HNaSO,) 
separates in the form of a coagulating precipitate. It is shaken 
vigorously and allowed to stand a short time. (Oils rich in alde- 
hyde usually develop considerable heat which must be reduced by 
addition of cold water.) Then about 200 grammes of hot water 


CASSIA. 215 


are added, and the whole, with frequent shaking, is warmed in a 
water-bath until the combination of aldehyde with the bisulphite 
of sodium is entirely dissolved and the non-aldehydes, as an oily 
layer, float on the solution of the aldehyde salt. It is now 
allowed to cool, is shaken up twice with ether, first with about 
200 c. em. and then with 100 c.cm. The ethereal extracts of 
non-aldehydes are separated off, brought together and filtered 
into a good-sized beaker previously weighed, in which is placed 
a spiral-shaped platinum wire. The ether is evaporated as 
quickly as possible, by putting the beaker in hot water. As 
soon as the liquid ceases to foam up when moved around, 
it is allowed to cool and is weighed. Then the beaker is again 
placed in the water-bath for 10 minutes, weighed again after 
cooling, and so on until the difference between two weighings is 
not more than 0°3 gram. The last but one is then taken as the 
correct weight. (The method of expelling the ether has a great 
influence upon the accuracy of the result. The non-aldehydes 
can be volatilized, but not easily. The ether must therefore be 
boiled rapidly and the beaker must not be allowed to stand in the 
water-bath any longer than is necessary for the evaporation of 
the ether.) The weight of non-aldehydes thus obtained being sub- 
tracted from that of the cassia oil used, the remainder gives the 
amount of cinnamaldehyde. 
“ Example.—Oil used, 79°71 grams. 


Ist weight of glass, after expulsion of the ether, 147°55 grams. 
2nd 39 2 3) 146°84 PP) 
3rd 3 98 pA 146:58  ,, 
From 146°84 
Deduct 128°34 Tare. 


Non-aldehydes in the oil 18°50 grams, or 23:1 per cent. 


Therefore 100 less 23-1 = 76:9 per cent. of cinnamaldehyde. 


“ By repeating the experiment upon a second portion, the variation 
in result (if the directions are closely followed) generally amounts 
to a few tenths of 1 per cent., rarely to 1 per cent., which in 
practice is more than sufficient. 

“The other constituents of cassia oil, including eventual adul- 
terations (resin, petroleum, fatty oil, etc.), are not affected by the 


216 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


reagent used, and, by shaking up with ether, can with ease be 
entirely separated from the watery solution. (Except the cimnamic 
acid.) 

“The cinnamic acid found in every cassia oil is determined in 
this process as cinnamaldehyde. As, however, even in very old 
oil, not so much as one per cent. of cinnamic acid was found, the 
error is insignificant.” 

Cinnamic acid may be removed by shaking the’ oil with hot 
sodium-carbonate solution, and the amount found deducted from 
that of the aldehyde found. Cinnamic acid can be identified by 
its melting-point 131° C. (the melting-point of pure cinnamic acid 
is 133°), and by the formation of benzaldehyde by oxidation with 
potassium permanganate. When the oil of cassia is heated with a 
solution of bisulphite of soda for the purpose of determining the 
aldehyde, the cinnamic acid is dissolved with it, forming, according 
to Valet*, phenylsulphopropionate of soda. The pure acid is 
easily soluble in water, and cannot be extracted with ether from 
the solution acidified with sulphuric acid, therefore, according to 
the manner of determining cinnamaldehyde, it is reckoned as 
aldehyde. 

A later Circular issued by the same Firm describes another pro- 
cess for the estimation of cinnamaldehyde as follows :—A specially 
manufactured glass flask is required, of about 100 ec. em. capacity, 
with a neck about 13 cm. long and 8 mm. internal width, which is 
divided into tenths up to 6 c. cm.; also a pipette of 10 c. cm. capacity. 
Ten c. cm. of the oil to be examined are measured with the pipette 
and allowed to run into the flask; the pipette is drained for a 
minute or two, and the last drops blown out with the mouth. The 
flask is then about three-fourths filled with a 30-per-cent. solution of 
bisulphite of sodium, and the curd that forms immediately shaken 
a few times, powerfully but carefully, without allowing a drop to 
spurt out. The flask is then placed in a hot-water bath. The 
whole is kept hot for several hours and occasionally agitated. It is 
sometimes kept hot for half a day and at least till the curd is com- 
pletely dissolved and there floats on the surface a layer of clear oil, 
sharply defined against the solution. [A stilllater Circular, dated 
October 189], says the results may be arrived at more quickly by 
a slight modification of the process :—After 10 c. em. of the oil have 


* Annalen der Chemie, cliv. p. 62. 


CASSIA. 217 


been allowed to run into the flask from a pipette, and have been 
warmed on a water-bath, the entire quantity of sodium bisulphite 
solution is not at once added, but small portions at a time, waiting 
after each addition until the solid mass first formed has become 
partly fluid. Proceeding in this way, the formation of the liquid 
compound of the cinnamaldehyde with sodium bisulphite is com- 
plete in 10 to 15 minutes if the proportion of aldehyde is high. 
In the presence of large quantities of non-aldehydous contents the 
estimation requires a correspondingly longer time.] | On observing 
the supernatant layer of clear oil above referred to, the flask is 
removed from the water-bath, allowed to cool, and filled up with 
the bisulphite solution (towards the end with great care drop by 
drop) till the oil has entirely risen into the neck and its lower 
limit accurately coincides with the lowest mark on the neck of the 
flask. This oil consists of the non-aldehydes, whose volume has 
to be subtracted from the 10 c. em. of cassia oil taken. The difference 
shows the amount of cinnamaldehyde in 10 c. em. of oil. Assuming 
that 2°7 c. cm. of oil were read off in the neck of the flask, then there 
were 2°7 c. cm. of non-aldehydes in 10 c. em. of cassia oil, or, in other 
words, the oil contained 27 per cent. of non-aldehydes and 75 per 
cent. of cinnamaldehyde. Strictly speaking these are volume and 
not weight percentages ; as, however, the sp. gr. of the non-alde- 
hyde in cassia oil (1-060 at 20° C.) almost exactly accords with 
that of cassia oil (1:059-1:061 at 20° C.), the actual difference is 
only small and of no practical importance. 

In carrying out the process some patience must be exercised and 
the operator must not be content with only a nearly complete so- 
lution of the curd. Not a single flock ought to be perceivable 
either in the oil or adhering to the sides of the flask, as otherwise 
an accurate reading off of the quantity of oil is impossible and an 
error of several per cent. may arise. If the bisulphite solution is 
turbid, it must be previously filtered *. If the curd will not dis- 
solve, although the flask has stood an entire day in the boiling 
water, an extraordinarily heavy adulteration of the cassia oil with 
a hard resin may be assumed. In this case a volumetric estima- 
tion of the cinnamaldehyde is impossible. When the oil is adul- 
terated both with resin and mineral oil (the most frequent and 
almost exclusive kind of adulteration) the separated non-aldehydes 


* Tt is necessary that the sodium bisulphite should have a sp. gr. of not under 
1:03 and that it be kept in well-stoppered bottles. 


218 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


are still liquid in the presence of a resin-content of 30 per cent. 
Two estimates of every oil ought to be made, of which the average 
should be taken. Both should accurately agree, or at most show 
a difference of 1,2, or 4 per cent. 

The following tests are given by E. Hirschsohn in the ‘ Journal 
of the Chemical Society’ (and reprinted in the Pharm. Journal, 
May 2, 1891). One volume of the oil should give a clear or merely 
opaline solution with three volumes of 70-per-cent. alcohol at 15° ; 
a turbidity or sediment indicates the presence of petroleum or of 
foreign ethereal or fatty oils, or of a large excess of colophony. 
Also, when the alcoholic solution is added drop by drop into half 
its volume of a cold saturated solution (saturated at the tempera- 
ture of the room) of lead acetate in 70-per-cent. alcohol, no pre- 
cipitate should be produced, otherwise colophony or a similar resin 
is present. Oils without any addition of resin do not become 
turbid on applying this test. Even old cassia oils with their slightly 
increased content of cimnamic acid remain quite clear. However, 
some old cassia oils that have been kept in badly closed vessels 
may possibly precipitate cinnamate of lead. This test with acetate 
of lead is particularly commended when little material is available 
for the investigation. 

To detect the adulteration of oil of cassia by oil of cloves, a drop 
of the oil should be heated on a watch-giass. Genuine cassia 
evolves a fragrant vapour possessing but little acridity ; when, 
however, clove oil is present, the vapour is very acrid and excites 
coughing. With fuming nitric acid, cassia merely crystallizes ; if 
clove be present it swells up, evolves a large quantity of red vapour 
and yields a thick reddish-brown oil.. Cassia oil when pure 
solidifies with concentrated potash, but not when mixed with clove 
oil. 

It has been noticed that oils of cassia and cinnamon may be 
highly adulterated with resin oils and still pass the tests of the 
German Pharmacopeeia *. 

With nitric acid sp. gr. 1°45 at 15°, or with 1:50 acid at 6°, 
both the pure and impure oils give crystals without development 
of heat ; however, with the 1°50 acid at 15°, both react violently, 
with development of heat and without the formation of crystals. 
Therefore the P. G. test, as neither the sp. gr. nor the temperature 


* Chem. Zeit. xiii, pp. 1406-7, and Journ. Chem. Soc. Apr. 1890. 


CLOVES. 219 


of the acid is stated, may lead to the condemnation ofa pure oil, and 
vice versd. By determining the “ acid number,” the adulteration 


can be detected, as the following numbers show :— 
Acid number. 


Genuine oil of Cassia (with 6 per cent. non- 


WO latiles Tesi) 25a Seg ase ee 13 
Ditto, after 40 hours? aeration. ..........4. 2.0 13 
Genuine Ceylon oil of Cinnamon (2 per cent. 

iE SIGN) ek ae eg ae een ee et cree ee eres 9 
Witton (2S percent. residuve)) 4.9. ie: -2s.<.oserss ee 10 


Adulterated oil of Cassia (28 per cent. residue) 47 

Ditto (prepared from pure oil of Cassia by inter- 
mixing 20 per cent. of colophony) ............ 40 

CIDLICI COLT arc aeceee cid cAERO Ar? oe ARE re be Ree aera ae 150 


CLOVES. 


The spice commonly known by this name consists of the dried, 
unexpanded flower-buds of the Caryophyllus aromaticus, Linn. 
Sp. Pl. 735, and Gertner, De Fruct. i. p. 167, tab. 33 ; DC. Prodr. 
ill. 262. 


Syn. Eugenia caryophyllata, Thunberg, Dis. p. 1. 
Myrtus caryophyllus, Sprengel. 
Caryophyllus, Rumph. Amb. ii. tab. i. figs. 2, 3. 
Bentley & Trimen, Med. Plants, t. 112. 
Curtis, Bot. Mag. t. 2749. 
Woodville, Med. Bot. t. 135. 


In Sanskrit, Lavunga. 
Persian, Meykuk. 
Arabic, Kerunpul. 
Bengalee, Lung. 
Hindee, Laung. 
German, Gewurzuelken. 


The Clove-tree is a beautiful evergreen, growing to a height of 
about 20 or 30 feet. Its trunk is straight and rises four or five 
feet before it throws out branches; having the appearance of a 
gigantic myrtle, with long ovate-oblong leaves. It bears quantities 
of flowers arranged in trichotomous terminal cymes. The bark is 
smooth, adhering closely to the wood, which is hard and strong, 


220 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


but of an ugly grey colour, therefore not suitable for cabinet 
work. 

The name clove is derived from the French clow, a nail, in allusion 
to the shape of the bud, the corolla forming a ball, the four petals 
being adherent at the points, and this knob, between the four teeth 
of the calyx, surmounting the long tube of the calyx looks like a 
nail. For the same reason the Dutch call it Naghel, the Spaniards 
Clavo, and the Italians Chiodo. : 

The seed-berry of the clove is oblong, 1-*or 2-celled and as 
many seeded. 

A peculiarity of the clove-tree is that every part is aromatic, 
owing to essential oil contained in minute glands, but the greatest 
strength is found in the bud. 

The clove-tree is indigenous to five of the Molucca gids and 
was originally confined to them, viz. Tarnati, Tidori, Mortir, 
Bachian, and Machain, chiefly this last. These islands constitute 
a string of islands westward of the large island of Gilolo, where, 
strange to say, the tree does not appear to grow in the wild state. 
According to Rumphius it was introduced into Amboyna a short 
time before the arrival of the Portuguese, and it is still largely culti- — 
vated there as well as in the adjacent islands of Haruku, Saparna, 
and Nusalant. 

The portion of Amboyna called Leytimeer and the Uliasser 
islands produced no cloves until the arrival of the Dutch, by whom 
the cultivation was restricted to Amboyna, every effort being made 
to extirpate the plant elsewhcre. 

It is also grown on a large scale at Sumatra, Penang, Malacca, 
Madagascar, the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba on the east coast 
of Africa, and in the East Indies. Several of the West Indian 
islands possess it, as St. Vincent, Trinidad, Martinique, St. Kitts. 
The French also introduced it into Bourbon and the Mauritius. 
Small parcels of exceedingly fine quality have recently been im- 
ported into France from St. Marie, Madagascar. ‘he tree fur- 
nishing the spice is a cultivated variety, of smaller growth than 
the wild tree but more aromatic. 

There appear to be five varieties of the clove, viz. :—the ordinary 
cultivated clove; the clove called the “ female clove” by the natives, 
which has a pale stem ; the Keri or leory clove ; the “Royal Clove,” 
which is very scarce; and the wild clove, which has hardly any 
aromatic flavour and is consequently of little value. The first 


CLOVES. 22] 


three descriptions are equally valuable as spices, the “ female” 
being considered fittest for the distillation of essential oil. The 
“Royal Clove” is a curious monstrosity which formerly had a 
great reputation as the “ Caryophyllum Regium” by reason of its 
rarity and the curious observations which were made respecting it*. 
It is a very small clove, distinguished by an abnormal number of 
sepals and by large bracts at the base of the tube of the calyx; 
the corolla and internal organs being imperfectly developed. 

The soil most suitable to the clove-tree is a dark loam, having a 
substratum of dark yellow earth intermixed with gravel. A sandy 
soil, a hard clay, and a wet ground in which sedges grow are to be 
avoided. The tree may be propagated either by setting the seeds, 
or by transplanting the young plants found in the clove gardens 
which have come up from self-sown seed. The plants raised by 
the first method, although luxuriant, are not thought to be so 
fruitful as the self-sown plants. 

In Amboyna it is thought best to set the young plants amongst 
other trees which shade them from the sun, and as the clove-trees 
grow up the other trees are removed, leaving here and there a few 
fruit-trees, such as the kanari and the cocoanut, The clove-trees 
must be kept pruned and care be taken that they are not choked 
with weeds ; failing these precautions the plants languish or de- 
generate into wild cloves. The health of the tree much depends 
on the nature of the soil and ground. 

“In Amboyna the harvest begins when the cloves begin to turn 
red. The ground beneath the trees is swept clean. The nearest 
clusters are taken off with the hand, and the more distant with the 
assistance of crooked sticks. As the boughs are tender, great care 
should be taken not to handle them roughly, as an injury would 
prevent them bearing for years. The curing of the cloves consists 
in placing them for some days on hurdles, where they are smoked 
by a slow wood-fire, which gives them a brown colour, and after- 
wards drying them in the sun, when they turn black. In some 
places they are scalded with hot water before being smoked, but 
this practice is not common. Such cloves as casually fall to the 
ground and are picked up in small quantities, the cultivators do 


* Rumphius, Hort. Amb. ii. xi. t. 2; also Hasskarl, Neuer Schlussel zu 
Rumph’s Hort. Amb. Halle, p. 166; Berg, in Linnza, 1854, p. 137; and Val- 
mont de Bomare, Dict. d’Hist. Nat. 1775, iii. p. 70. 


222 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


not think it worth while to subject to the process of smoking, and 
they are merely dried in the sun; they are discoverable by their 
shrivelled appearance and are of inferior value. The period of 
harvest is here from October to December, and the. average pro- 
duction of all trees in a plantation may be taken at above five 
pounds, this is allowing that only two-thirds of the trees are in 
bearing condition, the remaining third being either barren or young 
trees. According to these figures, the produce of an acre will be 
375 lbs. avoirdupois, and deducting one-eighth for young trees under 
ten years, 328 lbs.” * 

On the Moluccas the clove-tree begins to blossom when about 
seven or eight years old; the average produce is about 43 lbs. of 
cloves from each tree yearly. The harvest takes place twice a 
year, in June and in December ; the buds are partly collected by 
hand, and partly knocked off by bamboo canes and collected in 
cloths spread beneath the trees. 

As cultivated in the Bencoolen districts in Sumatra, the seeds 
are planted in rich mould at the distance of 12 inches from each 
other, screened from the sun and duly watered. They germinate 
within five weeks, and when four feet high are transplanted to 
distances of thirty feet, with a small admixture of sand with the 
red mould peculiar to these districts, so as to reduce its tenacity ; 
they are then cultivated in the same way as the nutmeg-trees, only 
that when full grown they require less manure in the proportion of 
one-third. They yield generally at the age of six years, and at the 
age of twelve years are in their highest state of bearing; the 
average produce may then be estimated at six or seven pounds of 
marketable fruit from each tree during the harvest, which takes 
place in the rainy seasons, i. e. twice a year. 

At the commencement of the wet season the tree throws out a 
profusion of new leaves. Soon after, the germs of the fruit are 
discovered at the extremities of the young shoots, and in the four 
followimg months the cloves are completely formed. The buds, at 
first of a pale green colour, assume in time a pale yellow and ulti- 
mately a blood-red colour. They are then ripe for gathering for 
the purpose of drying for the market, but this is not the actual 
period of maturity of the fruit, 7. e. the time when the seed is 
developed and ripe for purposes of propagation. For this another 
three weeks are required, and in this short period the fruit swells 


* ‘Tndian Agriculturalist, reprinted in Pharm. Journ. Aug. 20, 1887. 


aT Mei 


CLOVES. 228 


to an extraordinary size, loses much of its spicy quality, and con- 
tains a hard nucleus like the seed of the Bay. This state of the 
fruit is what Europeans call the “ mother clove” and the natives 
poleng. 

“The sight of a young plantation just coming imto bearing is 
very pretty. The leaves of various shades of green tinged with 
red serve to set off the clusters of dull red clove-buds. 

“The buds are plucked by hand, so that the process of gathering 
is tedious. They are then dried for several days on mats in the 
sun, until they break easily between the fingers and assume a dark 
brown colour. The loss of weight in drying is about 60 per cent. 
When past its prime the clove-tree has a rugged and straggling 
appearance. Its term of existence is from 20 to 24 years; hence 
it is necessary to plant a succession of seedlings, to take the place 
of worn out trees.” * 

When speaking of Zanzibar cloves we include the products of 
the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, three fourths of the entire 
crop being produced in Pemba, about 25 miles distant. Those 
grown on the island of Zanzibar are reckoned of superior quality 
and command a higher price, but this is probably due to the fact 
that the owners reside at Zanzibar and can thus give their affairs 
the benefit of direct supervision. Certaimly the conditions for 
their successful cultivation are most favourable at Pemba, where 
the rainfall exceeds that of Zanzibar, but the management being 
left to careless overseers, the result is the cloves are imperfectly 
cured and (being carelessly handled) are frequently marketed in an 
inferior condition. 

The clove-tree was first introduced into Zanzibar about the year 
1830 by the Sultan of that period, since which its cultivation has 
gradually extended, until it is now the chief industry of the 
islands. 

The industry received a check in 1872, the date of the great 
hurricane. At least nine-tenths of the trees were destroyed, so 
that the larger part of those now standing are of new growth. 

The method of cultivation at Zanzibar is as follows :—The seeds 
are planted in long trenches and kept well watered until after 
sprouting. In the course of forty days the shoots appear above 
ground; they are then watered when necessary and the ground 


* ‘Journal of the Indian Archipelago,’ v. p. 78. 


224. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


well kept for the space of two years, when they should be about 
three feet high. They are then transplanted, being set about thirty 
feet apart and kept well watered till the tender roots are established. 
From this time they only require ordinary care, though the best 
results are obtained when the ground about the trees is well worked 
over and kept free from weeds. 

The growth of the tree is very slow, and five or six years are 
required for it to come into bearing, at which time it is about the 
size of an ordinary pear-tree and is usually very shapely. 

« As soon as the buds are fully formed and assume this reddish 
colour, the harvesting commences, and is continued for fully six 
months at intervals, as the buds do not form simultaneously but 
at odd times throughout the whole period. The limbs of the tree 
being very brittle, a peculiar four-sided ladder is used for gathering 
the harvest. As fast as collected the buds are spread out in the 
sun, until they assume a brownish colour, when they are put in 
the store-house and are ready for the market. 

“‘ A ten-year old plantation should produce an average of 20 lbs. 
of cloves to a tree. Trees of twenty years frequently produce 
upwards of 100 lbs. each ” (?)*. 

The Consular Report above quoted from adds :—“ The present 
season, commencing July 1889, is very favourable and the crop 
will exceed that of any previous season. It will, in all probability, 
amount to 13,000,000 lbs., averaging a local value of 10 cents per 
lb. The Sultan derives no inconsiderable portion of his revenue 
from this source, since the duty is levied at 30 per cent. ad valorem, 
thus placing to the Sultan’s credit for the present year (1891) 
nearly, if not quite, 400,000 dollars.” 

(Further restrictions have since been placed on the export of 
cloves by the Sultan, and the market will probably be controlled by 
an arrangement of fortnightly auctions held under his authority.) 

Consul Pratt’s Report continues as follows :— 

“ Besides the clove-buds the flower-stalks are also gathered and 
form an article of commerce, commanding about one-fifth of the 
price of cloves and having about the same percentage of strength. 
To this circumstance is due the fact that groundcloves can frequently 
be purchased in the market at a lower price than whole cloves. 

“ For the past 15 years the cultivation of cloves has been the 
chief occupation of the Arab planters and has always netted good 


* Report of Consul Pratt, Zanzibar. 


CLOVES. 225 


returns. It seems probable that it will continue to bea profitable 
crop, as the consumption of the article appears to keep pace with 
the inevitable increase of production. 

“Up to the present time the plantations have been worked with 
slave labour at comparatively small expense ; but with stoppage of 
slave supplies from the mainland great difficulty will be experienced 
by the planters during harvest-time. One result will be an increase 
in expenses ; but what the planters have most to fear is that the 
curtailment of the labour-supply will entail a direct loss by rendering 
it impossible to harvest the crop until after it has bloomed, when it 
would be unfit for the uses of commerce.”’ 

From a still more recent Report of Consul G. H. Portal of Zan- 
zibar, we learn that “ four-fifths of the world’s crop of cloves is 
produced in Zanzibar and Pemba, and this harvest forms the staple 
item upon which the country may be said to depend. The culti- 
vation has been so remunerative that almost every available acre 
of (suitable) ground is devoted to them. But the average price 
has now (1892) gradually declined to about one-third of what it 
was*; the market is overstocked and the demand fails to keep 
pace with the supply. Rather more than half the crop reaches 
Bombay and New York, whilst London, Hamburg, Marseilles, ete. 
take the rest. Clove-stems are also exported in quantity... . . 
The Northern and Western portions of the Island are extremely 
fertile, being covered with clove plantations and cocoa-nut palms 

Wherever the ground is not cleared for cloves it is usually 
overrun by a luxuriant growth of aloes and common pine-apples.”’ 

The finest quality of cloves are dark brown in colour, with full 
perfect heads, free from moisture. The varieties of cloves met 
with in commerce are structurally similar in appearance. The 
inferior sorts are somewhat smaller, of inferior colour, and poorer 
in essential oil. In the London “ Price Currents” cloves are 
quoted, according to their relative value, as “ Penang,” ‘ Ben- 
coolen,” “ Amboyna,” and “ Zanzibar.” 

(The large yield of cloves per tree mentioned above by Consul 
Pratt seems rather exaggerated, and his estimation of the percentage 
of strength of the flower-stalks is also wrong, the yield of oil from 
the stalks being only one-fourth that from the cloves.) 


* [The price in 1892 is less than a third of that in 1888 and only a fifth of 
that in 1879. The present price of the oil is less than half the price it was in 
1889.] 

Q 


226 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The fiower-stalks of cloves were formerly an important article 
of commerce in Europe; they were known in France as “ Griffes 
de Giroflé,’” “ Pédoncules de Giroflé;” in Italy as “ Fusti” and 
“ Bastaroni” ; and in Latin as “ Stiptes Caryophylli.” The leaves 
of the clove-tree were also commercially dealt nm. There is still a 
market in the “stalks”; they are called by the natives of Zanzibar 
“ Vikunia,” and they are imported into England for the purpose of 
adulterating powdered cloves ; they may be detected by the micro- 
scope by the fact of their containing thick-walled cells, which are 
not present in cloves. The flavour of the stalks is moderately 
aromatic. They yield by distillation 4 or 5 per cent. of essential 
oil rich in hydrocarbon ; for this reason the action of the oil is 
leevogyre on polarized light. 

Powdered cloves are also adulterated with powdered Jamaica 
pimento, and this adulteration can be equally discovered by the 
microscope by reason of the thick ligneous walls of the cells. 
Pimento also contains a quantity of starch granules, which are not 
visible in pure powdered cloves. The microscope also reveals a 
great number of large starch granules in the seed of the clove, 
which is also imported into London for the same purpose of adul- 
teration. The seed is much poorer in essential oil than the flower 
of the clove. 

It is a common practice to falsify this spice with spent cloves 
from which the oil has been distilled. They are dried and rubbed 
between the hands, previously moistened with a little sweet oil to 
brighten their colour, after which they are mixed up with fresh 
cloves for sale. 

Oil of Cloves.—It is estimated that the flower-buds of the Clove- 
tree yield on distillation as follows :— 

Amboyna, 19 per cent.; Bourbon, 18 per cent.; St. Marie 
(Madagascar), 18 per cent. ; Zanzibar, 17:5 per cent. 

Clove stalks 6 per cent. 

“Clove root” (Geum urbanum).0°04 per cent. 

Few plants possess organs so rich in oil as the clove. This oil 
is at first colourless or yellow, darkening by age and exposure to 
theair. Itisopticallyimactive. It consists of a mixture in variable 
proportions of a sesquiterpene and an oxygenated oil. The first 
constituent, sometimes termed “ Light oil of cloves,’ passes over 
with the vapour of water when the crude oil is distilled with strong 
potash lye ; its composition is C,;H.,; its sp. gr. is 0°910 at 15° C.; 


CLOVES. 227 


its boiling-point 251°-254° C.; its optical power is very slightly 
levorotatory. The other, and the chief, constituent is Hugenol, 
C,)H,,0,, which exists to the extent of 76 to 85 per cent. in the 
oil. It has been found that very fine samples may contain as 
much as 90°64 per cent. of eugenol. 

Good oil of cloves should have a sp gr. of 1:067 at 15° C., and 
be freely soluble in alcohol of 90 per cent. An adulteration of 
turpentine would lower the sp. gr. and diminish the solubility in 
alcohol. 

Eugenol is a strongly refractive liquid with the characteristic 
smell and burning taste of cloves; by exposure to the air it becomes 
brown. On fusion with caustic potash it yields protocatechuic 
acid, and is convertible into vanillin by the action of potassium 
permanganate (see Vanillin). 

Besides forming the chief constituent of oil of cloves, it is found 
to a large extent in Allspice (Eugenia Pimenta), in the leaves of 
the Cinnamon-tree (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum), in Canella Bark 
(Canella alba), and probably in the Brazilian Cinnamon (Dycipel- 
lium caryophyllatum). It also occurs in the leaves of Illicium 
religiosum and of Laurus nobilis. It has been produced artificially 
by the action of sodium amalgam on coniferyl alcohol *. 

Pure eugenol has a sp. gr. of 1072 at 15°C. Its boiling-point 
is 253°-254° C., and it forms a clear solution in a 1 per cent. 
caustic-potash solution. 

The market value of an oil of cloves being dependent on the 
amount of eugenol contained in it, it becomes necessary to quanti- 
tatively estimate that amount. 

The usual method of separating eugenol from oil of cloves is by 
shaking up three parts of the oil with a solution composed of one 
part of caustic potash or soda in ten parts of water, pressing the 
crystalline paste of eugenol alkali that forms, taking up the press- 
residue with water, decomposing with hydrochloric acid, washing 
the liberated eugenol with water, drying it with calcium chloride, 
and then rectifying. 

A more simple process for determining with accuracy (at least 
to within 1 per cent.) the amount of eugenol, has been recom- 
mended by Thoms, in a paper read at the meeting of the “ Society 
of Naturalists and Physicians” in Halle +. The oil is converted 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem, Ges. ix. p. 418. + Pharm. Centralhalle, Oct. 8, 1891, 
Q2 


228 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


into benzoyl-eugenol, C,;H,,O3, by first agitating with caustic 
potash or soda solution, and then adding an equivalent of benzoyl 
chloride, C;H;OCl. Upon shaking, a considerable heating of the 
mass takes place, which is sufficient to complete the formation of 
the benzoyl-eugenol which is found in a crystalline mass on cooling. 
In order to remove a small quantity of sesquiterpene adherent, the 
crystalline mass, after beg washed several times, is heated on a 
water-bath in a definite quantity of 90 per cent. by weight of al- 
cohol (25 c. ec. where 5 grammes of the oil has been taken). The 
mixture is stirred until complete solution takes place, then cooled 
to 17° C. and filtered, sufficient alcohol being added to make up 
for any loss. The filtrate at this temperature contains all the 
sesquiterpene, together with a small quantity of benzoyl-eugenol, 
amounting to 25 c.c. to 0°55 gramme. The crystalline mass is 
then placed, with the still moist filter, im a weighing-bottle, the 
weight of which, together with that of the filter, dried at 101° C., 
has previously been taken, and dried at 101° C. until of constant 
weight. From the weight of this benzoyl-eugenol, after an addition 
has been made for the quantity remaining dissolved in the filtrate, 
the quantity of eugenol present in the oil taken can be calculated 
in the usual way; the molecular weight of the former compound 
being 164 and the latter 268. 

Experiments made by Messrs. Schimmel to test the accuracy of 
this process resulted as follows :— 

1, Eugenol prepared by saponification of benzoyl-eugenol, sp. 
gr. 1:072 at 15° C. Boiling-point 253°-254° C. Forms a clear 
solution in 1-per-cent. caustic-potash solution. 5 grams yielded 
8°22 gram benzoyl-eugenol, equivalent to 100°6 per cent. eugenol. 


Hs 8:22 x 100 x 164 


5 x 268 = 100°60. 


2. Eugenol obtained from clove-oil by shaking with alkali. Sp. 
gr. and boiling-pomt exactly the same as No. 1. 5 grams yielded 
8°20 grams benzoyl-eugenol, equivalent to 100°35 per cent. eu- 
genol : 

8°20 x 100 x 164 
ae SS OOO 5: 
5 x 268 002 

3. Eugenol prepared as No. 2, but a less pure product. Formed 

a clear solution with 10-per-cent. caustic-potash solution, but turbid. 


—— 


CLOVES. 229 


with 5-per-cent. solution. 5 grams yielded 7°9 grams benzoyl- 
eugenol, equivalent to 96°6 per cent. eugenol : 


7°9 x 100 x 164 


5 x 268 = 96°67. 


4. A mixture of 8 parts eugenol (No. 1) with 2 parts sequi- 
terpene from clove-oil. 5 grams yielded 6°45 grams benzoyl- 
eugenol, equivalent to 78°94 per cent. eugenol :— 


6°45 x 100 x 164 
5 x 268 


=78°94. 


Oil of cloves is frequently adulterated with phenol. This may 
be recognized by the following test, recommended by Fliickiger*. 
The suspected oil is shaken up with fifty times its volume of hot 
water ; after cooling, it is decanted, and concentrated at a gentle 
heat to a small bulk. A drop of liquid ammonia and a pinch of 
chloride are then dropped on the surface. If phenol be present, 
the liquid will assume a green colour, changing to blue, which will 
remain for several days. If the oil be pure, no coloration will be 
produced. This process is based on Berthelot’s discovery that 
ammoniacal phenol becomes blue on the addition of hypochlorite 
of lime. 

The above test is certain in its action, but has since been modi- 
fied by Jacquemin, in a way to test very small samples :—One drop 
of the suspected oil is mixed with a small trace of solution of 
aniline by means of a glass rod and then shaken with 5 or 6 c.c. 
of distilled water. By the addition of a few drops of sodium 
hypochlorite to the mixture, the characteristic blue coloration due 
to phenol will be developed in a few minutes, whereas with the 
oil nothing but the purplish-violet colour of aniline will be 
perceived. Stirring or shaking must be avoided after the addition 
of the hypochlorite, the reaction will take place without it. This 
is a very delicate test. A drop of oil containing 1 per cent. of 
adulteration distinctly develops the blue colour. 

In 1863, Scheuch detected the presence of salicylic acid in oil of 
cloves, existing probably in the form of a compound ether. It can 
be isolated by agitating the oil with a solution of carbonate of 
ammonium. It is probably the presence of this acid in the oil 


* Schweizerig Woschenschrift fiir Pharmacie, 1870, p. 200. 


230 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


which causes the greenish-blue coloration when brought in 
contact with an alcoholic solution of perchloride of iron, and 
produces the intense violet colour when the oil is agitated with 
metallic “ reduced iron.” 

Caryophylline, CyH,,0, is a neutral, tasteless, inodorous sub- 
stance, isomeric with common camphor, crystallizable in prismatic 
needles. It was obtained by Fliickiger and Hanbury in small 
quantity by extracting with ether cloves previously deprived of the 
greater part of their essential oil by a little alcohol. In 1873, 
Mylius obtained from cloves by nitric acid, crystals of Caryo- 
phyllinic acid. 

Cloves also contain 16 per cent. of a peculiar tannic acid, 13 
per cent. of gum, and about 18 per cent. of water and extractive 
matter. 


The perfume of cloves is strongly developed in flowers of certain 
plants, notably in those of a clove-scented Convolvulus found in 
the forests of Midnapore in Bengal, called Lettsomia Bona-noz, 
Roxburgh * , synonymous with Argyreia Bona-nox, Sweet +. The 
native name of this plant in Bengal is Kulni-luta. The flowers, 
which are produced during the rainy season, are large, pure white, 
expanding at sunset and perfuming the air to a considerable distance 
with a fragrance resembling that of the finest cloves. At sunrise 
these flowers wither ; a peculiarity which is noticeable in another 
scented Convolvulus, the Jpomea grandiflora, Roxburgh, called 
Doodiya-Kulmi in Bengalee, Munda Valli by Rheede{. This 
plant will twine up to a height of 20 feet and bears white flowers 
4 to 6 inches in diameter. It is common in hedges near Samul- 
cota and on the banks of watercourses amongst bushes. It has 
been considered very nearly allied to, if not identical with, the 
Lettsomia Bona-nox above-mentioned. 

The perfume of cloves blended with a trace of that of methyl- 
salicylate or a compound organic ether, is conspicuous in several 
species of Dianthus or “ Pink” ; plants belonging to the extensive 
order Caryophyllaceze. Most of the species are natives of Europe, 
temperate Asia, and North Africa. Dianthus Caryophyllus or 
“Clove Pink ” is the original of the garden Carnation. 


* Flor. Ind. ii. p. 494. + Hort. Brit. p. 289. 
t Rheede, Hort. Mal. xi. p. 103, t. 50, and ‘ Asiatic Researches,’ iv. p. 257. 


CLOVES. 231 


It is stated that when balsam Tolu is dissolved in a small 
quantity of solution of potash it loses its own characteristic odour 
and acquires that of the “ clove-pink.” 

The odour of cloves is strongly developed in the bark of Laurus 
Culilawan, L.* (Laurus caryophyllata, R.) and in Cinnamomum 
sintoc, Blume; also, in combination with the odour of nutmegs, 
in Culilawanus Papuanust. The bark of Cinnamomum Culilawan, 
a native of Amboyna, is called “Clove Bark” by reason of its 
strong flavour of cloves. “Clove Cassia” is the name applied to 
the bark of Dicypellium Caryophyllatum. It is also called “ Bra- 
zilian Clove Bark.” ‘The tree producing it is found in Para and 
Rio Negro. Doubtless all these barks owe their aromatic quality 
to the presence of eugenol. The “ Madagascar Clove-Nutmeg ” 
is the fruit of Agathophyllum aromaticum, a laurel; its leaves 
are used by the natives as a condiment. 

Analogous products, such as Pimento, “ Wild Clove,’ West 
Indian Bay and European Bay, will be fully described in Series 2 
of this work. 


* Sp. Pl. ed. Willd. ii. p. 478. 
+ Martini, Ency. i. p. 456. 


232 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


CHAPTER XI. 


BENZOIN.—STORAX.—BALSAM PERU.—BALSAM TOLU. 
BENZOIN. 


In the earliest known mention of gum benzoin the drug is called 
“Incense of Java,” Lubin Jéwi. The word Java was applied to 
the island of Sumatra, and was in fact used indiscriminately by 
the Arabs to designate in a general way the islands of the Archi- 
pelago. The Arab name Lubin Jawi became successively cor- 
rupted into Banjawi, Benjui, Benzui, Benzoi, Benzom, and 
ultimately to the common English name Benjamin. 

The Sumatra and the Java benzoin are produced by the Styraz 
Benzoin tree (Dryander). The botanical source of the Sumatra 
benzoin was determined by Dryander, and an account and figure 
of the plant were published by him in the ‘ Philosophical Transac- 
tions’ for the year 1787, lxxvii. p. 303. According to recent 
investigations made by Mr. Holmes *, the Penang benzoin is 
similar in appearance to the Sumatra kind ; but it has an odour 
quite distinct and so strongly resembling storax that it is probably 
produced by a different species, possibly the S. subdenticulata, 
Miq., which occurs in West Sumatra and has the same vernacular 
name, “ Kajoe Kéminjan.” That these two species should receive 
the same native name is not surprising, since the leaves are very 
similar in shape and appearance and the fruit of S. subdenticulata 
apparently only differs from that of S. Benzoin in being obovate 
instead of globular and depressed. Mr. Holmes adds :—“ The 
Palembang benzoin is probably derived from S. Benzoin; it has 
the same odour as ordinary benzoin from Sumatra and Java, but 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] xiv, p. 354, and xx. p. 519. 


BENZOIN. 233 


is more translucent, contains a larger percentage of benzoic acid, 
and appears to contain a considerable amount of moisture, very 
likely owing to some difference in the mode of preparation or 
melting into blocks. The Siam benzoin comes from Luang 
Prabang in the Laos States ; it has a distinct odour of vanilla, and 
there is sufficient botanical evidence of its being the product 
of a different species of Styrax. 

In Sumatra, benzoin is collected in the northern and eastern 
parts of the island, especially in the district of Batta *, situate im 
the south of the State of Achin. The tree also grows abundantly 
in the high parts of Palembang in the south of the island. Large 
plantations are generally established in the vicinity of the coast. 
It is also cultivated along the Batang Leko river, where the trees 
attain a height of about 15 feet. The benzoin produced in the 
interior is generally obtained from wild trees which grow at the 
foot of the mountains at an altitude of 300 to 900 feet. The tree 
is a rapid grower; being planted along the banks of rivers, the 
only attention they require for the first six years is to prevent 
them being overgrown by other plants. At that age the trunks 
will have attained a thickness of 6 to 8 inches, and are old enough 
to yieldresin. An incision being made in the trunk, a thick white 
resinous sap flows out, which rapidly hardens by exposure to the 
air; this is carefully scraped off with a knife. Each tree will 
continue to yield during 10 or 12 years about 3 lbs. of resin per 
year. The tree is then felled. The resin exuded during the first 
3 years is the most rich in the white tears, consequently superior 
to that which is afterwards produced; it is designated by the 
Malays “ Head Benzoin.” The resin produced during the 7 or 
8 succeeding years is browner and not so fine, this is termed 
“ Belly benzoin.” The third quality, called “ Foot Benzoin,” 1s 
obtained by cutting down the tree and scraping the wood. The 
benzoin is carried down to the port in large cakes called ‘ Tam- 
pangs,” enveloped in rush mats. They are then broken up and 
re-melted, either by the heat of the sun or by boiling water, and 
then filled into square boxes. 

The only information known respecting the method of harvest 
in Siam was furnished a few years ago by the English Consul at 


* Miquel, ‘Prodromus Flora Sumatranz,’ p. 72, and Fliickiger, ‘ Hist. des 
Drogues,’ ii. p. 12. 


234 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Bangkok. It is to the effect that the whole surface of the bark is 
incised, and that the resin which exudes accumulates and hardens 
between the wood and the bark, which is then stripped off. This 
information is confirmed by the aspect of the Siam benzoin of 
commerce, but evidently the entire supply of Siam benzoin is not 
obtained in this way. The Consul adds that the resin is much 
damaged and broken in transport to the navigable places on the 
Menam river, whence it is taken down to Bangkok. 

The finest Siam benzoin consists entirely of a mass of flattened 
tears of opaque milk-white resin tightly agglutinated together ; 
these tears are sometimes of from 1 to 2 inches in length. 
Generally, commercial benzoin is a compact mass, consisting of a 
quantity of white tears about the size of an almond, embedded in 
a translucid dark-brown resin. Sometimes the translucid resin 
predominates, and the white tears are few or almost entirely 
absent. In some consignments the tears of white resin are very 
small, and the mass presents an aspect of reddish-brown granite. 
There is always found a certain admixture of fragments of wood, 
bark, and other accidental impurities. The white tears when 
broken exhibit a certain stratified formation. The lumps of resin, 
which were exteriorly of a milky whiteness, gradually become 


brown and transparent on the surface. On the authority of 


Professor Flickiger, this opacity does not appear to be due to 
enclosed moisture, but rather to a particular molecular (semi- 
crystalline ?) condition of the resin. 

Siam benzoin is very brittle ; the fracture of the opaque tears is 
rather waxy ; the translucent part being of a glassy fracture. It 
softens quickly in the mouth and can be masticated. Its fragrance 
is very delicate, balsamic, and recalling perceptibly that of vanilla, 
but its taste is very feeble. On being heated, it.exhales a very 
strong odour and disengages irritating vapours of benzoic acid. 
It melts at 75° C. Siam benzoin is imported in cubic blocks, 
having the form of the boxes into which it was packed when in a 
soft state. 

The Sumatra benzoin is imported in the same shaped cubic 
blocks as the Siamese, but the aspect of it differs by being 
generally of a greyer tint. When of fine quality it contains 
numerous opaque trees embedded in a translucent greyish-brown 
resin, sometimes containing fragments of wood and bark. In 
inferior qualities the white tears are not present and the propor- 


a oe ) oe 


BENZOIN. 235 


tion of impurities is larger, sometimes very large. The odour of 
Sumatra benzoin is weaker and less agreeable than that of the 
Siam variety. The Sumatra benzoin is inferior in appearance to 
the Siam and is not generally so pure, hence its marketable price 
is lower. The greyish-brown part melts at 95° C., and the tears 
at 85° C. | 

As before observed, the Penang benzoin is markedly different in 
odour to that of Siam or Sumatra. 

Another description of benzoin is yielded by the Terminalia 
angustifolia, Jacq. * ; syn. T. Benzoin, Linn. t ; Catappa Benzoin, 
Gertner {. This is a tree of 30 or 40 feet in height ; a native of 
the East Indies. The gum is procured by wounding the tree ; it is 
composed of large white and light brown pieces, breaking very easily 
between the hands. It contains benzoic acid. When gently dried 
it forms a white powder, formerly in great request as a cosmetic, 
its perfume being very agreeable. 

Benzoic acid has a sharp acid taste and produces a peculiar 
irritation in the throat. It melts at 121°-4 and boils at 249°, but 
volatilizes at 100°, and sublimes rapidly at 140°. It also volatilizes 
with steam, one gramme passing over with two litres of water. 

_Its vapour has an aromatic penetrating odour, produces coughing 
and attacks the eyes violently, more mildly when it is mixed with 
steam. 

Benzoic acid crystallizes in lustrous, flat, monoclinic plates or 
needles ; by the gradual evaporation of its solution it is obtained 
in larger tablets, which, however, are always thin. 


1000 parts of water dissolve 
at 
10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100° 
210; (52:90 4:10 — 5:55 7°75. 5b A775 «27-15 «~40°75 58-75 


parts of this acid §. 

100 parts of absolute ether at 15° dissolve 31°35 parts ; 100 
parts of 40°/o alcohol 41°62 parts ; and 100 parts of absolute 
alcohol, 46°48 parts of benzoic acid ||. It also readily dissolves 


* Hort. Vind. iii. t. 100. 

+ Sup. Lam. Dict. i. p. 349. 

} Fruct. ii. p. 206, t. 127. 

§ Ann. Chim. Phys. [5] xv. p. 168. 
| Bull. Soc. Chim. xxix. p. 242. 


236 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


in chloroform, carbon disulphide, volatile and fatty oils, and con- 
centrated sulphuric acid. 

It is characteristic of benzoic acid that certaim impurities, even 
when they are present in extremely small quantities, alter its 
physical properties to a very considerable extent. 

Many varieties of benzoin contain cinnamic acid in addition to 
benzoic acid, and frequently only the former *. Both these acids 
occur either free or in the form of ethereal salts, together with 
other aromatic compounds, in Tolu balsam, Peru balsam, Mecca 
balsam (Balsamodendron Opobalsamum et Gileadensis), Myrrh 
(B. Myrrha), liquid Styrax, acaroid resin (Xanthorrhea hostilis), 
Dragon’s blood, and other resms. Benzoic acid has also been 
found in the oil of Ylang-Ylang (Cananga odorata), in plums 
(Prunus domestica chlorocarpa), and the cranberry. It also occurs 
in vanilla, the fruit of the clove-tree, the seeds of the spindle-tree 
(Huonymus Europeus), and the root of the sweet flag (Acorus 
calamus). 

Fourcroy and Vauquelin found, in 1797, that the urine of grami- 
nivora contains benzoic acid; and Liebig, in 1829, showed that a 
new nitrogenous acid, which he named hippuric acid, splits up 
when the urine is allowed to stand, yielding benzoic acid. Ac- 
cording to some observers, however, benzoic acid frequently occurs 
along with hippuric acid in the urine, and it has been found in a 
gland in the beaver}, and in the kidneys of the ox{. It is 
probable that in all cases the acid is formed by the decomposition 
of hippuric acid. It also occurs in coal-tar. 

Benzoic acid, C,H;.COOH, was formerly prepared exclusively 
from gum benzoin by sublimation; thus obtained it always 
contains a small amount of an ethereal oil, which gives it its’ 
peculiar smell. In order to prepare it in this way, the coarsely 
powdered resin is heated to about 170° in a flat iron vessel ; this is 
covered with filter-paper, and fitted with a conical cap of strong 
paper in which the acid sublimes. ‘This acid is commercially 
called “ English benzoic acid” or “ Benzoim-benzoice acid.” 

A second process for procuring it from its natural source 
(Scheele’s process) consists in boiling a mixture of equal weights 


* Kolbe, Ann. Chem. Pharm, cxix. p. 136. 
+ Ann. Chem. Pharm. lxvii. p. 360. 
J} Chem. Centralbl. 1861, p. 241. 


BENZOIN. 20% 


of the powdered resin and slaked lime, evaporating the filtrate to 
one-sixth of its bulk, treating with bleaching-powder solution, 
and then boiling with hydrochloric acid until all the chlorine has 
been removed. The acid separates out on cooling, and is re- 
crystallized from hot water. 

The first process yields the most fragrant acid, the second yields 
the largest result. 

Benzoic acid is prepared from the urine of cows or horses by 
allowing it to stand for several days, clarifying with milk of lime, 
evaporating the liquid to one-fourth of its bulk, and precipitating 
the benzoic acid with hydrochloric acid. As the evaporation 
produces a very unpleasant smell, it is better to precipitate the 
excess of lime by carbonic acid and add ferric chloride to precip- 
itate ferric benzoate, which is then decomposed by hydrochloric 
acid. The acid thus obtained is purified by being re-dissolved in 
milk of lime with the addition of a little bleaching-powder solution, 
separated by hydrochloric acid and re-crystallized from hot water. 
The final product (acidum benzoicum ex urina) is not only devoid 
of the fragrance of “ Benzoin-benzoic acid,” but it still smelis of 
urme, and is consequently unfit for purposes of perfumery. 
About 2 lbs. of acid are obtained from 1000 Ibs. of urine. This 
variety is commercially known as “ urine-benzoic acid” and 
** German ” benzoic acid ; it is probably used as an adulterant to 
the sublimed acid. When the “ urine acid ” is sublimed, it may, 
as averred, lose its offensive smell, but it does not contain the 
adherent volatile oils which add to the fine odour of the natural 
product. 

Artificial benzoic acid is now prepared readily and cheaply from 
toluene, which is a bye-product in the manufacture of nitro- 
benzene. Toluene is first converted into benzyl chloride (as 
previously described). 100 parts of this are then boiled with 300 
parts of nitric acid sp. gr. 1°313 and 200 parts of water for 
about 10 hours in an apparatus connected with an inverted con- 
denser, until the smell of benzyl chloride and benzaldehyde has 
disappeared, and the liquid solidifies on cooling to a crystalline 
mass, no oily drops being formed. 

This form of acid retains a peculiar odour of nitrobenzene, 
which is more noticeable when the package containing it is first 
opened. It is known as “ Tolnene-benzoic acid,” and is largely 
made in Germany. As neither the ‘ hippuric ” nor the “ toluene- 


238 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


benzoic acid” has the peculiar fragrancelof the “ benzoin-benzoic 
acid,” it is said that the latter acid is added to the other varieties 
to give them amore “ genuine” odour, which is probable, as these 
are produced at a very much lower cost than the genuine article. 

The difference in the behaviour of the different benzoic acids 
towards potassium permanganate is much more characteristic 
when in alkaline solution than when in acid solution. If 0-1 
gram of the benzoic acid be dissolved in 3 c. c. of potash solution 
sp. gr. 1:177 at 15° C., the solution diluted with 8 c. c. of distilled 
water, 5 drops of }-per-cent. permanganate solution added, and 
the whole heated to boiling, all the benzoic acids, with the excep- 
tion of those obtained by sublimation and in the nascent way 
from Siam benzoin, yield deep dark-green liquids, in which 
gradually a brown precipitate forms, whilst the two kinds 
mentioned give immediately decolorized liquids over brown 
precipitates. The different specimens present the same appear- 
ances after standing several hours. In this way therefore it can 
be ascertained with ease and certainty whether a genuine resin 
benzoic acid is present or not *. 

A “Toluene-benzoic acid” is found in commerce which has 
been sublimed with one-fifth and sometimes with one-tenth of its 
weight of Siam benzoin to disguise its origin. This acid forms in 
white silky loose crystals, smelling strongly and very agreeably 
of! benzoin, but, when treated with potassium permanganate in 
alkaline solution in the above-mentioned proportions and with 
heat, does not behave like true “ gum ” benzoic acid. 

There are various odorous compounds artificially prepared from 
benzoic acid, besides those mentioned elsewhere under their 
appropriate headings, e. gy. :— 

Methyl benzoate. Two parts of benzoic acid, one part of 
methylic alcohol, and two parts of strong sulphuric acid are 
distilled together. The residue is redistilled two or three times 
with fresh portions of methylic alcohol, and all the distillates are 
mixed together with water. The crude methyl benzoate sinks to 
the bottom. In this state it is sometimes sold as “ Niobe 
essence.” To purify it, it is washed two or three times with water, 
dried by agitation with calcic chloride, and rectified over dry 
oxide of lead, the portion which comes over above 198° C. being 
collected apart. It is a colourless, oily fluid, with a pleasant 


* Schacht, Pharm. Jnl. [3] xii. p. 518. 


oe 


BENZOIN. 239 


balsamic smell; insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether ; 
boils at 198°°5 C. at 761 millim., and at 199°-2 at 746 millim. ; 
its sp. gr. is 1:10 at 17° and 1:0876 at 16° C. (Kopp). Its consti- 
tution is represented by the formula C,H,O,. According to 
another authority methyl benzoate is conveniently prepared by 
passing hydrochloric acid into a solution of benzoic acid in methy] 
alcohol, distillmg, and then precipitating the ether with water *. 

Ethy! benzoate was prepared by Scheele as long ago as 1785, by 
the distillation of a mixture of alcohol, benzoic acid, and hydro- 
ehloric acid. It is not formed when an alcoholic solution of the 
acid is allowed to stand in the cold, but the ether is gradually 
formed if a little hydrochloric acid be added, or if the liquid be 
heated to 100°. The method adopted for the preparation of 
methyl benzoate may be followed, or it may be prepared by distil- 
lng four parts of alcohol with two parts of benzoic acid and one 
part of fuming hydrochloric acid till two-thirds have passed over, 
and pouring back the distillate into the retort two or three times, 
a little of the ether passes over, but the greater part remains in the 
residue, whence it is separated by the addition of water. It isalso 
obtained when a solution of three parts of benzoic acid in two 
parts of boiling alcohol of 80 per cent. is heated for some time in 
a vessel provided with a reflux condenser. It is represented by the 
formula, CyH,,)Q.. 

It is also readily formed by the action of benzoyl chloride 
(C;H;OCl) on alcohol, which is very susceptible of its presence. 
The presence of alcohol even in very dilute aqueous solution can 
therefore be detected by warming it with a little benzoyl chloride, 
and removing the excess of this acid by caustic soda; even when 
only 0-1 per cent. of alcohol is present, the characteristic odour 
of ethyl benzoate can be distinctly recognized (Berthelot). 

Isonitrosobenzyl ether, C,H;CH,ON, is prepared by heating 
benzyl chloride (C;H,Cl) with a solution of sodium and isonitroso- 
acetone in absolute alcohol. It crystallizes from petroleum ether 
in colourless tablets, which have a pleasant smell of flowers. It 
melts at 45° to 46° +. 

Benzoylacetone is formed together with acetophenone and ben- 
zoic acid when benzoylacetic acid is boiled with water{. It is 

* Ann, Chem, Pharm. cx. p. 210. 


+ Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xv. p. 3071. 
t Ibid. xvi. p. 2239, 


240 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


also a product of the action of sodium ethylate on a mixture of 
acetone and ethyl benzoate*; but it is best prepared by covering 
sodium ethylate, free from alcohol, with an excess of acetic ether, 
and gradually adding the calculated quantity of acetophenone, the 
liquid being cooled with ice. The liquid product solidifies after 
a short time to a thick mass of light yellow crystals of sodium 
benzoylacetone. The mass is triturated with ether and filtered, 
the residue being dissolved in water and decomposed with acetic 
acid, which precipitates the benzoylacetone in the form of small 
prisms}. This substance melts at 60°-61°, boils almost without 
decomposition at 260°-262°, and is readily volatile with steam. It 
has a very pleasant penetrating odour, is only slightly soluble in 
cold, more readily in hot water, and is readily soluble in alcohol 
and caus tic-soda solution. It gives an intense claret-red colora- 
tion with ferric chloride, and is decomposed by boiling with 
alkalies into acetic acid and acetophenone. 

Amylbenzene has been obtained by treating a solution of amyl 
bromide and bromobenzene in benzene with sodium {. A better 
yield is obtained when ether is used as a diluent instead of ben- 
zene. It is also formed by the action of amyl chloride on a 
mixture of benzene and aluminium chloride §. It is a pleasant 
smelling liquid, boils at 193°, and has a sp. gr. of 0°859 at 12°. 

Pentylb enzene, CgH;C;Hy, has been obtamed by the action of 
sodium on a mixture of benzyl bromide and butyl bromide. It 
isa very pleasant smelling liquid, which boils at 200°-5-201°-5, and 
has a sp. gr. of 0°8602 at 22°||. 

Butylbenzene is formed by the action of sodium on a mixture of 
propyl! bromide and benzyl bromide, or of butyl bromide on bromo- 
benzene. It is a liquid of a very pleasant odour, boils at 180°, 
and has a sp. gr.fof 0°875 at 0° and of 0°8622 at 16° 4. 

Isobutylbenzene is obtained by treating a mixture of bromoben- 
zene and isobutyl bromide or isobutyl iodide, or of benzyl chloride 
and isopropyl! iodide with sodium**. It is also formed by heating 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xx. p. 655. 
+ Ibid. xx. p. 2078. 
¢ Ann. Chem. Pharm. cxxix. p. 369; exxxi. p. 515; and exli. p. 160. 
§ Ann. Chim. Phys. [6] i. p. 454. 
|| Ann. Chem. Pharm. cexviii. p. 883. 
q| Ber. Deutsch. Chem. Ges. ix. p. 260, and x. p. 296. 
** Tbid. iii. p. 779 ix. p. 1606; and viii. p. 500. 


STORAX, 241 


isobutyl alcohol with benzene and zinc chloride *, and by the action 
of aluminium chloride on a mixture of isobutyl chloride and 
benzene +. It is a pleasant smelling liquid, which boils at 167°°5, 
and has a sp. gr. of 0°890 at 15°. 


SToRAX. 

The words Storax and Styraxz have been used by some authors 
to distinguish between the solid and the liquid varieties of this 
drug. The solid kind usually referred to by Dioscorides and 
ancient classical writers as =tvpaég is yielded by the Styrax offici- 
nalis, Linn.,a small tree nearly allied to the tree yielding benzoin. 
It is a native of Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria, and is cultivated 
in Italy and some parts of the south of France. It is figured and 
botanically described in Woodville’s ‘ Medical Botany,’ tab. 71, 
in Churchill and Stevenson’s ‘Medical Botany,’ i. tab. 47; in 
Andrews’s ‘ Botanical Repository,’ 631, and Loddiges’s ‘ Botanical 
Cabinet,’ 928. It is said that this tree, when allowed to grow 
freely, will attain 15 or 20 feet in height; but now, in most 
localities, it is stunted down to a mere bush through bad cultiva- 
tion and cutting the tree periodically for fuel; in such state it does 
not yield the odoriferous product, except possibly in the district 
of Alexandretta. 

The Styrazr officinalis, Liun., is indigenous in the mountainous 
woods on the east side of Toulon, in the direction of Cuers. It 
there grows in abundance, but as it is cut periodically for fuel in 
common with the other trees growing near it, it can seldom attain 
any considerable size. Hanbury states { that at the time of his 
visit to this district, May 17, 1854, he did not observe any trees 
exceeding eight or nine feet in height; ... that the Styrax trees 
presented a beautiful appearance by their abundance of orange- 
flower-like blossoms, but that no trace of resinous exudation could 
be observed upon any of the trunks, nor did the fresh bark possess 
the least odour of storax. 

This gum, which used to be known as “ True Storax” (derived 
from the Arabic word Assthirak), is very fragrant, and appears in 
the form of separate or more or less agglutinated tears, exuding 
either spontaneously or after incision made in the trunk of the 

* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xy. pp. 1066 and 1425. 


+ Bull. Soc, Chim. xli. p. 446. 
t Pharm, Journ. [3] xiy. p. 12. 


242 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


tree. This fine kind of storax, always extremely scarce, was called 
amygdaloid, from the small white almond-like tears of which it 
partially consisted. It also bore the name of Styrax calamites, a 
term derived from the ancient method of packing it im _ reeds 
(calami). This description of storax, which was undoubtedly the 
Storax of ancient times, has now wholly disappeared from com- 
merce, the name Styrax calamites or calamita bemg retained to 
designate a manufactured compound, hereafter described, but not 
produced from S. officinalis, Linn. 

Liquid Storax.—This balsam was mentioned at avery early date 
by the Arabian physicians and was exported by the Arabs to India 
and China, which countries still receive the larger portion of the 
annual production. The botanical origin of the drug was, until a 
comparatively recent date, obscure, but we know now with cer- 
tainty that it is exclusively obtamed from Liguidambar Orientals, 
Miller (LZ. imberbe, Aiton), a tree whose geographical distribution 
is very restricted, but which forms large forests in the south-west 
of Asia Minor. These forests are described by Hanbury* as 
being found in the district of Sighala, near Melasso; near 
Moughla, and near Giova and Ulla, in the Gulf of Giova; also 
near Marmorizza and Isgengak, opposite Rhodes. ‘The trees are 
described as resembling the plane tree, although with a smaller 
leaf and being much denser in foliage than the plane; the height 
being twenty to sixty feet, and being especially large in the 
immediate vicinity of streams of water, and where they find 
sufficient air and space. 

The tree is figured in Hooker’s ‘Icones Plantarum,’ 3rd series, 
1867, tab. 1019; Hanbury’s ‘ Science Papers, 1876; and 
Bentley and Trimen’s Med. Plants, tab. 107. 

The methods of extracting the Liquid Storax have been 
described as follows :—In June and July, the outer bark is 
stripped off on one side of the tree and reserved for purposes of 
fumigation. The inner bark is then scraped off with a semicir- 
cular or sickle-shaped knife, and when a sufficient quantity has 
been collected, it is packed in strong horsehair bags and subjected 
to pressure in a wooden lever press. Upon removal from the 
press, hot water is thrown over the bags and they are pressed a 
second time, after which the greater portion of the resin will have 


* Pharm, Journ. [1] xvi. p. 461. 


STORAX. 243 


been extracted. Another account says the resin is chiefly collected 
by a tribe of wandering Turcomans called Yuruks, who boil the 
inner bark in a large copper, the liquid resin rising to the surface 
is skimmed off. The boiled bark is next put into horsehair bags 
and pressed, the extracted resin being added to the portion first 
obtained. 

The result of these processes is an opaque grey or greyish- 
brown semi-fluid resin of about the consistence of honey, which is 
exported in casks to Constantinople, Smyrna, Syra, and Alexan- 
dria. Some is also packed with a certain proportion of water in 
goat-skins and sent to Smyrna, where it is transferred to casks 
and shipped mostly to Trieste. This balsam is known to the 
Turks by names which mean “ Black Frankincense oil,’ Incense- 
oil,’ and “ Sighala oil” (from the district between Melasso and 
Macri, where much of it is collected), The Greeks often designate 
it by the first-mentioned Turkish name. As imported into 
Bombay from the Red Sea ports, this balsam is known as Rose 
Malloes, being evidently confused with the resin obtained from 
the “ Liquidambar Altingiana”’ of the Indian Archipelago, a tree 
which bears the Malay name of Ras-Sama-la. 

The residual bark, after the extraction of the liquid storax, is 
emptied out of the bags and exposed in the sun to dry. It has 
the appearance of brownish-red cakes consisting of thin, narrow 
reddish strips, tightly pressed together and having a sweet 
balsamic odour. These cakes are known as Red Storax and 
Black Frankincense leaf, and in pharmacy as Cortex Thymiamatis, 
Cortex Thuris, Thus Judeorum, Narcaphthum. In modern Greek 
it is known by the simple name “ Storax.” 

The semi-fluid resin of Liquidambar orientalis always contains a 
certain amount of water which, by degrees, floats to the surface. 
By age the resin becomes more transparent and of a dark brown 
colour. It also becomes transparent and more fluid on the appli- 
cation of heat, parting with the water mechanically held in 
solution and depositing solid impurities at the bottom of the flask. 
On being spread out very thinly it partly dries, but does not quite 
lose its stickiness. After being separated from the water con- 
tained in it, it reddens litmus. It dissolves in alcohol, chloroform, 
ether, acetic acid, bisulphide of carbon, and in most essential oils, 
but not in petroleum benzene. In coal-tar benzene it dissolves 
with ease, and this forms the best menstruum for freeing it from 

R2 


244. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


impurity, of which there is usually present about 10 per cent. It 
has been suggested that this peculiarity of solubility may form a 
useful means of distinguishing between the two benzenes, or even 
detecting their admixture*. The odour of liquid storax is very 
pleasant and balsamic, especially when matured by age; the recent 
balsam having rather an odour of bitumen and naphthaline. 

The presence of turpentines of the various species of Lariv and 
Pinus as adulterants of liquid storax may, according to Hager, be 
determined by melting a small quantity (say 5 grams) in a test- 
tube, and exhausting it by agitating three times successively with 
petroleum ether. Upon evaporating the solution, the residue 
should consist of styrolene (formerly called styrol) and styracin 
only, should be colourless, bluish opalescent, and of pleasant odour. 
If a turpentine is present the residue is yellowish, and has the 
characteristic odour of turpentine. Good storax yields to pe- 
troleum ether about 50 per cent.; if more is taken up, the 
presence of adulterants may be inferred f+. 

For the detection of crude turpentine in liquid storax, Hager 
also recommends the following test:—Fuse the sample in a test- 
tube by means of a water-bath, then agitate it with half its 
volume of absolute alcohol until dissolved. This is then to be 
thrice shaken up with several times its volume of benzene. The 
decanted benzene solutions are united and evaporated in a water- 
bath from a tared vessel. The residue should weigh 45 to 55 per 
cent. of the sample; it should have a bluish opalescence and an 
agreeable odour. If turpentine is present the residue will be 
yellowish, with an odour of turpentine, and its weight will be 
greater than that stated above f. 

Liquid storax contains styrolene, cinnamic acid, styracin, phenyl- 
propyl cinnamate, ethyl cmnamate, and a small quantity of a 
pleasant smelling substance which is probably ethyl vanillin. 
The chief constituent, however, is the resinous styracin and its 
cinnamic ether §. 

Styracin, or,Cmnyl cinnamate, C;,H;;(OH);, can be isolated 
from liquid storax by filtering hot through a cloth and triturating 


* Pharm. Journ. [8] xi. p. 431. 

+ Ph. Centralhalle, 1874, p. 161. 

} Ibid. 1874, no. 21. 

§ Miller, Ann, Chem. Pharm. clxxxviii. p. 184, and clxxxix. p. 338, 


STORAX. 245 


the filtrate with cold petroleum spirit. One half of the liquid is 
then distilled off, and the solution filtered from the precipitate, 
which consists of the ethyl cinnamate and a portion of the sty- 
racin. The clear liquid deposits the styracin on standing, in 
dazzling white fascicular crystals, which melt at 44°. 

Styrolene, CsH,, formerly called Styrol or Cinnamol, is chemi- 
cally phenyl ethylene. It is a volatile oil, and was formerly 
obtained by distilling liquid storax with water, to which sodium 
carbonate was added to prevent any cinnamic acid passing over ; 
it is strongly refractive, colourless, very aromatic, boils at 144°°5 
and has a sp. gr. of 0°925 at O°. The amount of styrolene present 
varies according to the age of the balsam, also by reason of the 
varying methods employed to extract the balsam. On oxidation 
it yields benzoic acid. When styrolene is heated for some time to 
100° or for a short time to 200°, it is converted without changing 
its composition into Meta-styrolene, a vitreous, strongly refractive 
mass, insoluble either in alcohol or ether. Its sp. gr. is 1:054, and 
it is too hard to be cut with a knife. 

When cinnamic acid is distilled with four times its weight of 
baryta, a body is formed which has been considered identical with 
styrolene*, and Hempel found that a similar hydrocarbon is 
formed when the vapour of cinnamic acid is passed through a red- 
hot tube, as well as by the distillation of copper cinnamate +, and 
the slow distillation of free cinnamic acid. 

Styrolene has been obtained in other ways. Botsch found that 
when Dragon’s blood is distilled with zine dust, 66 per cent. of 
styrolene are formed, in addition to ethylbenzene, a little toluene, 
and a smailer quantity of higher boiling substance {. Berthelot 
obtained it, together with benzene and other hydrocarbons, by 
heating acetylene to the softening point of glass §, and by passing 
a mixture of ethylene and benzene through a red-hot tube ||; he 
also discovered it in coal-tar 4. 

Styrolene is now obtained by the slow distillation of cimnamic 
acid, which is manufactured synthetically on the large scale (see 
Cinnamon). When cinnamic acid is allowed to stand for some 


* Compt. Rend. xxi. p. 1376. + Ibid. lix. p. 316. 

{ Monatshefte f. chem. 1. p. 609. 

§ Ann. Chem. Pharm. exli. p. 181. 

|| Ibid. exlii. p. 257. 4 Ibid. Suppl. ii. p. 368. 


246 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


days in contact with the most concentrated hydrobromic acid, 
phenylbromo-propionic acid is formed, and this is decomposed by 
sodium-carbonate solution with formation of styrolene. A still 
better yield is obtained when phenyliodopropionic acid, which is 
prepared in a similar manner, is boiled with sodium-carbonate 
solution *. 

The artificial, or synthetically prepared styrolene, which was 
termed by Herzog +, who prepared it by distilling cimnamic acid 
with slaked lime, Cinnamol, also the styrolene obtained artifi- 
cially by Berthelot and other chemists, is optically inactive, whilst 
styrolene obtained by distillation from liquid storax is levo- 
rotatory. This appeared remarkable ; but Van t’?Hoff proved that 
the hydrocarbon obtained from storax contains varying quantities 
of an impurity to which it owes its rotatory power f. 

Styrolene chloride is formed by the direct combination of styro- 
lene with chlorine, but it is difficult to purify, since substitution 
products are instantaneously formed. It is a thick oily liquid 
which decomposes on distillation and is scarcely soluble in water, 
but imparts to it a very characteristic penetrating smell, resem- 
bling those of the oils of lemons and juniper berries. 

Styrolene bromide has the same characteristic smell and taste as 
the chloride. It is best obtained by mixing styrolene with an 
equal volume of chloroform § or with two volumes of ether ||, and 
adding the calculated quantity of bromine to the well-cooled 
liquid. It may also be prepared by adding bromine gradually to 
hot ethylbenzene §], and purifying the product by re-crystallization. 
It erystallizes from alcohol in small plates or broad needles 
melting at 74°-74°°5. 

Cinnamic acid occurs in liquid storax, partly in the free state, 
partly as styracim. The uncombined cinnamic acid is easily ex- 
tracted by boiling the drug in water with carbonate of soda or of 
lime. Cinnamate of soda is thereby formed, and can readily be 
decomposed by acids. By this process from 6 to 12 per cent., and 


* Ann. Chem. Pharm. excy. p. 137. 

+ Compt. Rend. lili. p. 523. 

{ Ber. Deutsch. ix. pp. 5 & 1339, and xi. p. 1260; also Ann. Chem. Pharm, 
exli. p. 378. 

§ Ann. Chem. Pharm. cliy. p. 154. 

|| Ibid. cexvi. p. 288. 

4] Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. vi. p. 493, and Bull. Soc. Chim, xxxv. p. 55. 


STORAX. 247 


even more, of crystallized cinnamic acid can be obtained. The 
properties of this acid are described under the article “Cinnamon.” 

Styracin can be isolated by ether, benzene, or alcohol after the 
styrolene and cinnamic acid have been separated out from the 
resin; it being insoluble in water and only volatile at a tempera- 
ture above red heat. 

It was found in 1839 that the Styracin discovered by Bonastre 
in liquid storax is converted, by boiling with caustic-soda solution, 
into cinnamic acid and an oily liquid which was termed Styracone. 

Later investigations * have shown that this is a mixture of 
phenylpropy] alcohol and phenylallyl alcohol, which last is also 
called Cinnamyl alcohol, or Styryl alcohol, or more conveniently 
Cinnyl alcohol. In order to prepare it, styrax is distilled with 
sodium-carbonate solution until styrolene no longer passes over, the 
aqueous solution containing sodium cinnamate removed, the resi- 
due distilled with caustic potash, and the cinnyl alcohol separated 
from phenylpropyl alcohol by the fractional distillation of the oily 
distillate. Pure styracin may also be distilled with caustic potash ; 
the cinnyl alcohol crystallizes out of the distillate, while any 
remaining in the solution is precipitated with salt or extracted 
with ether. Cinnyl alcohol crystallizes in long thin needles which 
melt at 33°, and have a pleasant smell of hyacinths; it boils at 
250°, is tolerably soluble in water, readily in alcohol and ether, 
and is oxidized to cinnamaldehyde by platinum black +. It is con- 
verted into phenylpropyl alcohol by the action of sodium 
amalgam on its warm aqueous solution, a little allyl-benzene 
being simultaneously formed. 


Styrax Calamita. 

The substance which bears this name is not the Storax Calamita 
of the Ancients, but a composition artificially made up of the 
pressed residue of the bark of Liguidambar Orientalis, from which 
the Liquid Styrax has been extracted. This cake of bark, called 
“ Cortex Thymiamatis,’ is coarsely pulverized and mixed with 
liquid storax in the proportion of three of the former to two of the 
latter. When first made it presents the appearance of a viscid 
mass, which after a few weeks becomes coated with small silver 
needles of styracin. It has a very sweet odour. 

* Ann. Chem. Pharm. exxxii. p. 22, and cxxxviil. p. 184. 
+ Ibid. xciii. p. 370. 


248 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


When the bark residue is scarce common sawdust is used as a 
substitute, and inferior qualities are made up of olibanum, honey, 
red earth, and other substances. ‘This drug is manufactured at 
Trieste, Venice, and Marseilles. 

Other odoriferous substances are compounded from liquid 
storax, amongst which may be mentioned the “ Black Storaz” 
which Pereira notices*; it is a brownish-black substance which 
by degrees moulds itself to the shape of the vessel in which it is 
enclosed. In Hanbury’s opinion it is this Black Storaz, composed 
of olibanum and liquid storax made into cakes, which is sold for 
incense under the name of yrevdouocxorrBavov or otopaxt by the 
Greek monks, particularly those of the island of Symi, and it 
is also this substance which constitutes the “ precious incense” 
used at Easter in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 
and of which small pieces are sold to the pilgrims at an enormous 
price,—not for burning, but chiefly to be used as a charm. 

“ Cake Storar”’ is met with in large blocks of 50 or 60 lbs. 
weight packed in canvas; it is brownish red, easily pulverized to 
coarse powder which can be again united into a mass by pressure. 
This is probably made of the bark coarsely ground im a mill and 
deprived of the bulk of its resin. 

Resin of Liguidambar Styracifiua, Linnzeus, is the produce of 
the “ Liquidambar tree” of Louisiana, Florida, Mexico, and 
Guatemala. In the United States it forms a very large tree, 
known as the ‘‘ Sweet Gum tree” which in southern latitudes 
attains an immetise size, the balsamic exudation being much more 
abundant. It yields two sorts of balsam, physically different in 
character. The one is a thick, transparent, yellow oily fluid, 
which by age or exposure to the air becomes darker in colour and 
concretes. This is called “ Liguidambar liquid.” It has a strong, 
agreeably balsamic odour, and an aromatic very bitter taste. It 
contains a large quantity of benzoic or cinnamic acid, a drop of 
it on litmus paper producing a deep red coloration. On being 
treated with boiling alcohol, a small quantity of white residue is 
precipitated. This balsam is obtained by making incisions in the 
bark of the tree, and immediately receiving the liquid into bottles 
to protect it from the action of the air. It is afterwards decanted, 
to separate an opaque portion which deposits at the bottom. The 


* Mat. Med. ii. pt. i. p. 680. 


STORAX. 249 


second product of this tree, known as “ Soft or White Liquidam- 
bar,” consists partly of the opaque deposit above-mentioned, and 
partly of that portion of the balsam which has flowed from the 
tree and thickened by exposure to the air; these are probably 
melted together. It is of the consistence of a very thick turpen- 
tine or soft pitch; opaque, whitish in colour, and less odorous 
than the preceding. It contains benzoic acid, which frequently 
effloresces on the surface. By exposure to the air it solidifies and 
becomes almost transparent, but retains its odour. It is fre- 
quently used to adulterate the White Balsam Peru, but is 
distinguishable from it by taste and by a bitterness which it 
acquires by exposure to the air. Pereira says it is quite different 
from a genuine sample of the White Balsam of Peru received by 
him from Guatemala, and equally different from genuine “liquid 
storax.” 

A thick dark-coloured opaque substance is obtained from the 
young branches of this species by boiling them in water and 
skimming off the fluid balsam which rises to the surface. This 
also has been confounded with liquid storax. 

The balsam previously referred to as ‘‘ Rose Malloes,” from the 
Indian Archipelago, is produced by the Liguidambar Altingia, 
Blume (Altingia excelsa, Noronha), a native of those islands and of 
Burmah and Assam. In Java this tree is said to attain an 
immense size. The word Ras-Sama-la is variously corrupted into 
Resmal, Rosum Aloes, and Rose Malloes. The odoriferous semi- 
fluid resin is not abundant, and does not resemble “ liquid storax.” 
Two sorts of balsam are obtained from this tree in Burmah ; the 
one is pellucid, of a clear yellow colour, obtained by simple 
incision of the bark ; the other thick, dark, opaque, and of terebe- 
naceous odour, obtained by applying heat to the tree after 
wounding it. 

Resin of Liguidambar Formosana, Hance.—The tree furnishing 
this resin is supposed to be identical with the Styrax liguida folio 
minore, mentioned by Ray* as being amongst a collection of 
plants from Amoy. It is a native of Formosa and the south of 
China. It yields a hard resin which has an agreeable odour when 
warmed. The tree is figured in Hooker’s ‘Icones Plantarum,’ 
series 3,1. tab. 1020. 


* Hist. Plant. ili. Append. p. 233. 


250 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Bassam Perv. 


This fragrant balsam is extracted from the trunk of the 
Myroxylon Pereire, Klotzsch (Myrospermum Pereire, Royle), 
a handsome tree of about 45 feet in height, the trunk rising 
to a height of 6 to 9 feet before putting forth its branches. 
It inhabits the western part of the State of San Salvador, 
on the Pacific coast of Central America, known as the “ Balsam 
Coast,” extending between 13° 35’ and 14° 10! N, lat., and 
89° and 89° 40’ W. long., a tract of land which formerly 
belonged to Guatemala. In this locality it is found growing wild 
in dense forests, but each tree has its particular owner; those 
which grow in clusters together are sometimes enclosed and those 
which grow singly are simply marked. They are sometimes 
let out for a certain number of years, or the produce of a certain 
number of trees may be contracted for. The principal towns and 
villages in the neighbourhood of the Balsam region are :—Juis- | 
nagua, Topecoyo or Coyo, Tamanique, Chiltinapan, Talnique, 
Jicalapa, Jayaque, Teotepeque, and Comasagua. 

The season for collecting the balsam commences in November. 
A portion of the bark on four sides of the tree is loosened by 
being well bruised with a hammer or the back of an axe, leaving 
between the parts so bruised four strips of similar size uninjured, 
so as to preserve the vitality of the tree. Then, to excite an 
abundant flow of balsam and facilitate the removal of the bark, it 
is usual in about five or six days after thus bruising it to char its 
outer surface by means of lighted torches, care being taken not to 
let them come in contact with the sap, the inflammability of which 
might cause the complete destruction of the tree. The torches 
are generally made of “chemaliate,’ a kind of resinous cane 
burning like a candle. After the lapse of about a week, the 
charred bark either falls off of its own accord, or is easily detached. 
The trunk then commences to exude the balsam, which is collected 
by wrapping rags round the naked wood and so soaking it up. 
After a few days, the rags being thoroughly saturated with balsam 
are thrown into an earthen vessel three parts full of boiling water, 
stirring them meanwhile. In a few honrs all the balsam will 
be extracted from the rags and sink to the bottom of the vesse!. 
From time to time the spent rags are withdrawn from the boiler, 
and replaced by others saturated by balsam. As the rags are 


BALSAM PERU. 251 


withdrawn from the boiler they are submitted to strong pressure, 
and the balsam which is extracted from them returned to the 
boiler. When the decoction is cold the water is decanted and the 
balsam poured into gourds ready for transport to the coast. The 
next year the Indians again visit the same trees and perform the 
same operation on the portion of bark which was left untouched 
the year before. 

The tree begins to be productive in its fifth year, and continues 
to yield for 30 years or more*. In 1861 the tree was introduced 
in Ceylon, with complete success. 

As the tree is said to be capable of reproducing its bark in two 
years, a harvest can be gathered for many years, provided that 
from time to time it be allowed a few years of rest. Sometimes 
the naked wood is covered up with clay as a protection. 

When Balsam Peru arrives at Acajutla and La Libertad, the 
ports on the “ Balsam Coast” from which it is chiefly shipped, 
it is in a crude state, usually of a grey-green to a dirty yellow 
colour, and requires to be purified before it is fit for exportation. 
A first clarification is effected by allowing the crude balsam to 
stand in a large iron vessel capable of holding six or seven 
hundred pounds during a week or a fortnight, by which time the 
heavier impurities sink to the bottom and the lighter ones float as 
a scum on the surface. The clear balsam, which has already 
attained its characteristic black-brown colour, is then drawn off 
through a tap fixed about four inches from the bottom of the 
vessel and run into a tinned iron boiler set over an open fire and 
boiled moderately for two or three hours. All scum is removed 
as it makes its appearance, and the boiling is continued as long as 
any continues to be formed. It can easily be understood that the 
physical properties of the balsam will differ according to the 
temperature to which it is submitted during this boiling, and it is 
alleged that the lower specific gravity observed in balsam of Peru 
during recent years is attributable to a modification it undergoes 
in this operation, and is quite consistent with the genuineness of 
a given sample { ; this may be so, but it would seem preferable to 
refine the balsam in Europe by a more careful process. 

The sp. gr. of pure balsam Peru at 15° C. varies from 1:140 to 


* Am. Journ. Pharm. xxxii. p. 303. 
t Gehe & Co.’s Market Reports, 1884. 


252 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


1:145, according to the proportionate amounts of the bodies which 
constitute it. It is of a dark brown colour and thick consistence, 
somewhat like treacle, but not so sticky, and when pure it does 
not drop with the thread-hke attenuated drops observable with 
treacle. In the bulk it appears to be black, but pressed into a 
thin film between two plates of glass it appears to be of a dark 
orange-brown and quite transparent. 

It possesses a smoky balsamic odour, which becomes very 
agreeable when dropped on paper and warmed. Its fragrance is 
increased and somewhat changed when dropped on a red-hot 
coal, by reason of the decomposition of the inodorous resin it 
contains. | 

After long exposure to the air it remains unaltered and does not 
deposit crystals. It is insoluble in water, but yields up to it a 
small quantity of cinnamic acid and a trace of benzoic acid. Six 
or eight parts of crystallized carbonate of sodium are required to 
neutralize 100 parts of the balsam. It is only slightly soluble in 
dilute alcohol, benzene, ether, essential or fixed oils, and quite 
soluble in petroleum ether. It dissolves easily in cold acetic 
acid, anhydrous acetone, absolute alcohol, and chloroform. The 
peculiarity of the process employed in the preparation of Balsam 
Peru accounts for its containing substances which are not found 
in the Balsam of Tolu, which is extracted in a more natural way 
from Myrozylon Toluifera ; the result being that these two drugs 
possess very different properties although produced by trees so 
very nearly akin that Professor Baillon * considered them speci- 
fically identical. 

Pure balsam Peru does not diminish in volume when shaken 
with an equal bulk of water. Three parts of balsam mix easily 
with one part of carbon disulphide, but further addition of this 
last causes a brown flocculent precipitate of resin. When thrice 
its weight of carbon disulphide is added, a black coherent mass of 
resin is precipitated, amounting’ sometimes to 38 per cent. of the 
balsam, and attaches itself firmly to the glass. The carbon 
solution then appears as a perfectly transparent, slightly brown 
liquid which, when decanted and evaporated, leaves a brown thick 
aromatic liquid having asp. gr. of 1:1; this is cinnamein (or benzyl 


* “Sur les caractéres spécifiques des Toluifera,” Bull. de la Soc, Linn. de 
Paris, 1874, p. 7, also Rép. de Pharm. n. s. i. p. 566. 


BALSAM PERU. 253 


cinnamate), C,,H,,0,, as may be proved by the fact of its conversion 
into benzyl alcohol, C;H,,0,, and cinnamic acid by the action of 
caustic alkalies. It amounts to about 60 per cent. of the balsam. 
Cinnamein can also be separated from the balsam by distillation, 
but with more difficulty, owing to its high boiling-point, about 
305° C. Cinnamein is a thick liquid, miscible in alcohol and 
ether, and not congealing at —12° C. By boiling it suffers slight 
decomposition. By exposure to the air it slowly acquires an acid 
reaction ; submitted to the prolonged action of potash, especially 
in alcoholic solution, potassium cinnamate crystallizes out, and the 
oily liquid remaining consists of a mixture of benzyl alcohol and 
toluene called Peruvin,.C;H,O (so named by Frémy). Benzyl 
cinnamate can be prepared artificially by heatmg sodium cinnamate 
with benzyl chloride, and so obtained it forms crystals which 
melt at 39° C. and boil between 225° and 235°, so differing con- 
siderably from cimnamein; in fact it has been thought that cin- 
namein contains, besides benzyl-cinnamate, benzyl-benzoate, cin- 
namyl-cinnamate, and some free benzyl-aleohol*. Both benzyl- 
benzoate and benzyl-cinnamate also occur in Tolu balsam, and 
benzyl-alcoho] is found in liquid storax+ and in oil of cherry- 
laurel {. Cinnamyl-cinnamate is also called cinnyl-cinnamate, and 
is identical with styracin C;,H,,0, or meta-cinnamein C,,H,,O, , 
which is contaimed in liquid storax, and which, although crystal- 
lizing in long rectangular prisms which melt at 38°C., frequently 
solidifies in a form which is not crystalline, or only crystallizes 
after remaining for a considerable time im a liquid, oily state. 

By treatment with a concentrated solution of potash, styracin 
is decomposed into a cinnamate of potash and Styrone, CyH,O §, 
having an odour of hyacinths. 

The resin separated from the balsam as above mentioned by 
carbon disulphide consists of an amorphous, black, brittle mass 
which does not possess the characteristic odour of the balsam. 
It is soluble in caustic alkalies and in alcohol. It can be purified 
from its alcoholic solution by charcoal. It reddens litmus and 
yields an abundant precipitate on the addition of an alcoholic 


* Ann. Chem. Pharm. clii. p. 151. 
t Ibid. clxiv. p. 289, 
¢ Pharm. Journ. [3] y. p. 761. 


§ See p. 247. 


254. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


solution of neutral acetate of lead. Kachler, in 1869, found that 
by melting this resin with potash, about 3 of its weight of proto- 
catechuic acid was obtained. By destructive distillation it yields 
benzoic acid, styrol, and toluene. 

From the researches above recorded it may be concluded that 
the balsam contains one-third more of a resin and probably nearly 
two-thirds of benzyl cinnamate, which undergoes some modification 
consequent on the method employed to obtain the balsam—a 
method which is certainly the cause of the presence of free acids 
and a black colouring-matter in the balsam. The balsam also 
contains 3 or 4 per cent. of cinnamic acid. The proportions of 
these constituents vary somewhat (but only to a small extent) in 
different parcels of balsam, and are probably accompanied by small 
quantities of other bodies such as benzylic alcohol, styracin, and 
benzoic acid. 

The thick consistence and dark brown colour of the balsam 
render sophistication very easy. The principal adulterants are 
castor oil, purified storax, copaiba balsam, an alcoholic solution of 
benzoin brought to the consistence of a balsam, and a similar 
solution of colophony. The specific gravity is a very important 
criterion of unsophisticated balsam. All the substances above 
mentioned are lighter than the true balsam, the sp. gr. of which 
at 15° C. varies, as above stated, between 1°140 and 1°145, or 
perhaps 1:138 may be taken as the extreme minimum and 1°147 
as the extreme maximum; therefore, as soon as the sp. gr. of a 
sample is found to be below 1:140, and certainly when below 1:188, 
the article becomes suspicious. The sp. gr. of castor oil varies 
between 0°95 and 0°97, and that of copaiba balsam between 0°94: 
and 0°99. The sp. gr. of purified storax, obtamed as a brown 
transparent balsam by extracting liquid storax with alcoholic 
ether and evaporating the clear filtrate, was determined by 
Schlickum * as 1:093, that of the colophony solution as 1-016, 
and that of the benzoin solution as 1°080; therefore an addition 
of one of them would markedly lower its sp. gr. The plan re- 
commended by Hager, of observing whether a drop of balsam floats 
or sinks in a saline solution of known density, is considered 
to be defective, as the behaviour of the drop is affected by the 
conditions under which it reaches the surface of the solution. 

In estimating the purity of this balsam, Professor Flickiger 

* Archiv. der Pharm, [3] xx. p. 498. 


BALSAM PERU. 255 


remarks * tliat such physical observations as those above mentioned 
(sp. gr., consistency, stickiness, etc.) should first be made, and 
draws particular attention to the fact that adulterated samples 
exhibit a thread-like attenuated drop, which is presumed to mean 
a similarity to the manner in which treacle will drop. The 
chemical properties of the chief constituents should then be con- 
sidered, and remarks on the adaptation of cinnamein to this 
purpose, which may be obtained with the greatest facility, though 
not perfectly pure, when the balsam is shaken with three times 
its weight of carbon disulphide. The latter becomes only slightly 
coloured when a pure balsam is employed, while the adulterated 
often yields a very dark coloured solution, but he yet considers 
the amount of cinnamein present altogether too variable or its 
relation to carbon disulphide, and too much affected by the possible 
admixtures to admit of its quantitative estimation. The cinnamein 
may be obtained more pure by means of the lower-boiling fractions 
of petroleum. This solution is almost entirely colourless, and 
leaves, after the evaporation of the petroleum, as is known, a very 
fragrant cinnamein, amounting to about half the weight of the 
balsam, thus far less than by the application of carbon disulphide. 
A petroleum boiling at 50° to 70° C. may be very well adapted ; 
and the yield must be determined by testing numerous samples. 

Besides the amount of cinnamein, the amount of resin of Peru 
balsam may be also employed as atest. This can be separated, 
as above mentioned, by means of carbon disulphide or petroleum, 
and amounts in a pure balsam to more than one-third, or to about 
two-fifths ; most of the adulterants will have the effect of decreasing 
the weight of the resin separated by the solvent, and inversely to 
increase the amount of the portion taken up by that solvent ; 2. e., 
apparently to furnish more cinnamein. As the cinnamein and 
resin are determined in the same operation, the same objections 
apply to the latter as to the quantitative estimation of the cin- 
namein. In a like manner the property of this resin, on the other 
hand, of not being rapidly attacked by alkalies is of value. 

The important article by Professor Fliickiger above quoted from 
adds that the free acid which occurs in the balsam, chiefly cin- 
namic acid, offers a pomt of attack which the German Pharma- 
copeeia has already made use of, although in a manner which 


* Pharm. Zeitung, 1881, p. 222. 


256 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


leaves room for doubt ; for in what manner can it be determined 
that “1000 parts of balsam are neutralized by 75 parts of sodium 
carbonate”? The execution of this experiment is not quite so 
simple as it would appear in this laconic requirement. Should the 
balsam be boiled with the finely-powdered carbonate, the action of 
the same aided by means of water, or must, inversely, the balsam be 
diluted with alcohol? Good Peru balsam was boiled for a day with 
an excess of sodium carbonate and 10 times its weight of alcohol 
(sp. gr. 0°830) in a flask provided with an inverted condenser ; 
91:6 parts of sodium carbonate were required for 1000 parts of 
balsam. It is probable that hereby, finally, not only the free acid 
is combined with the sodium, but also that a decomposition of the 
cinnamic ether or cinnamein begins. It appears therefore more 
advisable to extract the free cmnamic acid by means of lime, in that 
it may be accepted that the latter is without action on the compound 
cinnamic ether. If, for example, 50 parts of balsam are boiled for 
two hours with a mixture consisting of 20 parts of lime and 500 
parts of water, the evaporated water restored, the boiling mixture 
filtered, and the mass twice washed, employing each time 200 parts 
of hot water, the cinnamate of calcium is thus obtained in solution. 
This is evaporated to 200 parts (whereby it becomes more and 
more of a yellowish colour, developmg a coumarin odour, which 
resembles the odour of the Balsam Peru pods), and, after super- 
saturation with hydrochloric acid, is placed for some hours in the 
cold, whereupon the separated cinnamic acid is collected, after 
draining pressed between bibulous paper, first dried by exposure 
to the air and finally on the water-bath. When prepared from 
pure balsam the acid consists of loose, not smeary, somewhat 
brownish crystals, the weight of which amounts from 2 to 4 per 
cent. Adulterated balsams yield, according to the nature of the 
admixture, a much less pure cinnamic acid, or they give much 
more or less than 3 to 4 per cent. of acid. That cinnamic acid is 
obtained is manifest from the fact that it requires for solution 
100 parts of boiling water, while benzoic acid dissolves at 100° C. 
in 15 parts of water. Upon cooling the hot, saturated, aqueous 
solution, the cinnamic acid is, for the most part, again separated. 
If 2 parts of the crystals, purified in this manner, are shaken 
in a flask with 1 part of potassium permanganate and 20 parts of 
luke-warm water, a strong odour of bitter-almond oil is developed, 
the cinnamic acid yielding benzaldehyde. 


BALSAM PERU. 257 


The free cinnamic acid can thus be employed qualitatively and 
quantitatively as a criterion of the purity of Peru balsam, but too 
much importance should not be attached thereto. This acid is not 
to be regarded like cinnamein as an active constituent, and, on the 
other hand, does not occur to such an amount in the balsam as to be 
regarded, like the black resin, as a peculiarly indicative portion of 
the mixture. As the free acid always amounts to but a few per 
cent., the percentage amount would be but little changed even by 
a large adulteration, except in so far as benzoin is concerned, in 
which case readily-perceptible large amounts of benzoic or cin- 
namic acids would be introduced. <A large admixture of storax, 
on the contrary, produced no correspondingly increased yield of 
cinnamic acid. In comparison with most materials which are 
adapted to its adulteration, the somewhat slighter tendency of 
Peru balsam to decomposition by the action of alkalies appears to 
be of service. This peculiarity was indicated by Dr. Grote, as he * 
recommended 3 to 6 drops of the balsam (about a quarter cubic 
centimetre) to be shaken with 2 to 3 cubic centimetres of ammonia, 
sp. gr. 0°960, or, according to the relations by weight, 2 parts of 
balsam with about 17 parts of ammonia. The free acid passes 
into solution, and of the remaining constituents only a small 
amount is emulsionized, while the chief portion is not at all further 
changed. From the pure balsam, after one day, a turbid liquid 
may be decanted, while the residue remains semi-liquid, or very 
soft. But little is here dependent upon the proportions, as it was 
found that the balsam shows still the same behaviour when it is 
shaken with only half its weight of ammonia. The action of 
ammonia upon adulterated balsams, however, is quite different ; 
they solidify after a short time, as Dr. Grote has shown, to a stiff 
jelly from which no liquid can be decanted, or they become perfectly 
hard. Dr. Grote has, however, already indicated that it is chiefly 
colophony which may be detected in this manner, and that other 
admixtures, on the contrary, such as benzoin, storax, copaiba, and 
“oardschan” balsam (“wood oil”’) cannot be recognized by means 
of ammonia. Thesame is applicable to the fatty oils. Ifa balsam 
containing fat is shaken with carbon disulphide the latter is taken 
up by the solvent, whereby an (apparent) increase of the cinnamein 
will appear. If this is saponified with alcoholic soda and carbonic 


* Pharm. Centralh. May, 1880, p. 179. 


258 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


acid gas then passed through the liquid in order to remove the 
excess of soda as carbonate, the filtrate will contain, besides 
sodium cinnamate, also the sodium salts of the fatty acids, and 
these latter would then be separated by boiling water from the 
acidulated solution of their salts, and from the cinnamiec and 
benzoic acids. 

By boiling the balsam with milk of lime there is extracted 
therefrom, as the above experiments show, for the most part simply 
cinnamic acid, and upon the filter there remains a soft friable 
mass. Slaked lime in a dry condition exerts the same slight 
action. If 2 parts of the balsam are triturated with 1 part of 
slaked lime, the properties of the mixture are changed no more 
than would be expected; a smeary, or, at all events, a soft, 
kneadable or somewhat friable, readily divisible mass is obtained, 
which, even after long exposure in the water-bath, does not 
harden. Adulterated specimens, on the contrary, furnish very 
hard, no longer kneadable masses when rubbed with half their 
weight of slaked lime. The same behaviour is shown by speci- 
mens of balsam to which storax, evaporated alcoholic solution of 
benzoin, colophony and copaiba are added in amounts of 10 per 
cent. or more. In every case the adulterated balsam solidifies 
with the lime. This lime test appears therefore to be of constant 
value, and in its simplicity leaves nothing to be desired. In 
concluding his observations on this test, Professor Flickiger 
remarks that Dr. Grote, who has treated the subject minutely 
and successfully, quite agrees with him as regards the action of slaked 
lime, and that, as a test, it may be exacted that “10 drops of 
Peru balsam shall furnish with 4 gram of slaked lime a mixture 
which remains soft.’ This test, however, is not effectual if 
castor oil be present (or other fatty oil), but on warming such a 
mixture with the lime the fatty odour is plainly perceptible, if 
not, a very small amount of fat is added, and upon ignition decom- 
position products of the castor oil are formed, which possess a 
peculiar odour. 


The results of the examination of Peru balsam made by 
Schlickum~* differ materially in several respects from those of 


* Ayrchiy. der Pharm. [3] xx. p. 498; and Pharm. Journ. [3] xiii. p. 321. 


BALSAM PERU. 259 


Professor Fliickiger ; for instance, in the ‘ Pharmacographia’ and 
in the Professor’s article above quoted from, 38 per cent. of resin 
is stated as the amount contained in the balsam. Schlickum 
states the resinous residue obtaimable by the same method (treat- 
ment with three times its volume of carbon disulphide) to be 16 
per cent. at most, and that an admixture of benzoin increases the 
insoluble proportion. Mac Ewan, ina paper read before the British 
Pharmaceutical Conference, 1884, corroborates Schlickum’s obser- 
vation as regards the maximum being 16 per cent., and adds, 
“Tt is apparent that the United States Pharmacopeia has 
fixed upon too high a maximum which might be profitably 
amended, since the test affords a good indication of the presence 
of benzoin.” The maximum fixed by the U.S.P. is 40 per cent. 
Muter states the percentage at 38; Attfield 33 as maximum. 
The results of experiments made by Mac Ewan differ in some 
respects in a marked manner from those of Schlickum, and they 
also disagree with Professor Fliickiger’s “ Lime test” + and Dr. 
Grote’s modification thereof ; consequently great doubt arises as to 
the purity of the samples operated upon by Messrs. Mac Ewan 
and Schlickum, and the mind has a tendency to rely on the inves- 
tigations of the author of the ‘ Pharmacographia,’ at least until 
further researches are made with samples of undoubted purity and 
known age. 


The following process is recommended by Messrs. Gehe & Co. 
as convenient for determining with certainty the presence or 
absence of benzoin or storax in Peru balsam :— 

Five grams of balsam, five grams of soda solution (sp. gr. 1°160), 
and ten grams of water mixed together are shaken with two suc- 
cessive quantities of ether of 15 grams each, and the ether poured 
off as completely as possible. The residue is heated to boiling and 
acidulated with hydrochloric acid; cold water is then added, and 
the resin which separates is removed, dissolved in about 3 grams 
of soda solution, diluted with 20 grams of water, heated to 
boiling, and precipitated with solution of barium chloride. This 
precipitate is drained on a filter, dried on a water-bath, extracted 
with alcohol, the alcohol extract evaporated, then taken up with 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] xv. p. 238. 
+t Pharm. Zeitung, 1881, p. 222; and Pharm. Journ. [3] xii. p. 45, 
S2 


260 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


concentrated sulphuric acid, chloroform added and the whole 
shaken. In the presence of benzoin or storax, the chloroform is 
coloured violet to blue. It is stated that by this method even 
small admixtures of these substances can be detected with cer- 
tainty, and it is affirmed that although, like the petroleum spirit 
and nitric acid test of the German Pharmacopeeia, it is dependent 
upon a colour reaction, it is more certain in its indications. 

The method of detecting castor oil proposed by Wagner is to 
expose a small portion of the suspected balsam to distillation until 
somewhat more than one half has passed; to shake the distillate 
with baryta water, to remove by means of a pipette the layer of 
oil floating on the surface, and to shake this with a concentrated 
solution of sodium bisulphite. If castor oil be present the liquid 
will immediately become a crystalline mass *. 

The United States Dispensatory gives the following test :—If 
one volume of the balsam be triturated with two volumes of sul- 
phuric acid, a tough, homogeneous cherry-red mixture should 
result. If this be washed after a few minutes with cold water, it 
should be converted into a resinous mass which is brittle when 
cold. 

A mixture of three parts of the balsam with one part of carbon 
disulphide remains clear, but a mixture of one part of the balsam 
with three parts of carbon disulphide separates from the balsam 
about 40 per cent. of resin. The liquid poured off from the latter 
should be transparent, should not have a deeper colour than light 
brownish, and should not exhibit more than a faint fluorescence. 
When distilled with 200 times its weight of water, no volatile oil 
should pass over. 

There sometimes exudes spontaneously from the trees a guin 
resin of a feebly bitter taste and entirely devoid of balsamic odour ; 
Attfield’s analysis of this substance shows it to contain 77°4 per 
cent. of non-aromatic resin, without a trace of cinnamic acid, and 
entirely different from the Balsam Peru. The leaves of the tree 
contain a fragrant oil. 

“ White Balsam Peru,” “ Balsamo Blanco,” or “ Baume Blanc 
de Son Sonaté” is obtained by pressure from the fruit-pods of 
Myrozylon Pereire. It has no similarity whatever to the balsam 
obtained from the trunk of the tree. In appearance it resembies 


* Am. Journ. Pharm, xxx. p. 570. 


BALSAM TOLU. . 261 


turbid honey, of a yellowish-white colour and of an odour of 
melilot or coumarin. It is but slightly soluble in cold alcohol, but 
more so in ether, which leaves on evaporation a matter which is 
more of the nature of a wax than of a resin. By treating this 
balsam with hot alcohol, Stenhouse * extracted a neutral, resinous, 
colourless substance, easily crystallizable, to which he gave the 
name of Myroxocarpine C,,H3,03. 

These fruit-pods of the Balsam Peru tree also yield by distillation 
with water an almost colourless essential oil, with a sweet odour 
that recalls the fragrance of a field of beans in blossomt+. By 
exposure to the air the odour becomes slightly altered, probably by 
oxidation of the oil, and approaches that of cedar wood. This oil 
is not entirely soluble in rectified spirit, a white precipitate 
settling down after a few days and leaving the supernatant liquid 
quite clear. The odour is quite different from that of either Peru 
or Tolu balsam, and is not exactly like any known perfume. 

Other balsamic exudations from trees belonging to the genus 
Myrozylon are noticed by pharmacological writers; but they are 
not dealt in commercially in Europe, are rarely imported, and very 
imperfectly understood, although well deserving thorough investi- 
gation. Amongst such odorous resins may be mentioned that 
obtained from the Myroxylon peruiferum, Mutis & Linn. fil., 
identical with Myrospermum peruiferum, D.C., and Myrospermum 
pedicellatum, Lam. Dict. ‘This tree is figured in Guibourt’s 
Histoire des Drogues, 7° ed. ii. 472. It grows in Peru as a large 
tree of 65 centimetres diameter in the trunk, and is locally known 
as Quino-quino. This balsam exudes from incisions made in the 
trunk during the rainy season. It is preserved in bottles and re- 
mains fluid for some years ; in this condition it passes under the 
name of “white liquid balsam,’ but when it is put up in cala- 
bashes, which is a common practice at Carthagena, it soon dries 
up into a solid resin and is then known as “ Dry white balsam ” 
or “ Balsam Tolu” by the local druggists. This balsam is quite 
distinct from the White Balsam of Son Sonate above-described. 


Batusam Touv. 


A balsam obtained by exudation after incision in the bark of 
Myroxylon Toluifera, syn. Toluifera Balsamum, Miller, Myrosper- 


* Pharm. Journ. [1] x. p. 290. + Ibid. (3) xv. p. 483. 


262 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


mum Toluiferum, A. Rich., a lofty evergreen tree with a straight 
trunk, sometimes rising to a height of 40 feet before branching 
(evidencing in this respect a marked difference from the My- 
roxylon Pereira yielding Balsam Peru, with which Professor 
Baillon argues it to be identical *), and attaiming an average height 
of about 70 feet. 

The Balsam Tolu tree is found in the district of Plata on the 
right bank of the Magdalena in New Granada, also in Venezuela, 
Equador, and Brazil. 

The balsam is obtained by cutting several V-shaped notches into 
the bark, at the base of which the wood is a little hollowed out, 
so as to allow calabashes of the size and shape of tea-cups to be 
fixed. Sometimes as many as twenty calabashes may be seen on 
various parts of the same trunk, and the bleeding is allowed to go 
on for eight months in the year, so that ultimately the trees 
become much exhausted and thin in foliage fF. 

As freshly imported, Balsam Tolu appears as a light brown 
resin, and although not fluid or of a sticky surface, is yet suffici- 
ently soft to receive the impression of the finger. It hardens 
gradually by age, becoming brittle in cold weather, but softens by 
the warmth of the hand. In an attenuated state, spread out in a 
thin layer, it is quite transparent and yellowish-brown in colour. 
Its perfume is very delicate and agreeable, recalling that of 
benzoin aad vanilla, and is very diffusible on the application of 
warmth or when its alcoholic solution is left to evaporate on paper. 
Its taste is feebly aromatic and of scarcely perceptible acidity, 
although its alcoholic solution distinctly reddens litmus. Very 
old samples, such as those of the last century which are imported 
into Europe in small calabashes of the size and shape of an 
orange, have become hard, brittle, and pulverulent; showing a 
brilliant crystalline fracture of beautiful dark amber colour, and 
having a more delicate perfume than recent balsam. 

When Balsam Tolu is pressed between two slips of warmed 
glass and the film examined with a magnifying-glass, a quantity 
of crystals of cmnamic acid are observable. 

The balsam is completely soluble in cold acetic acid, alcohol, 
chloroform, and solution of caustic potash; it is only imperfectly 
soluble in ether, scarcely at all in volatile oils, and quite insoluble 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] iv. p. 382. 
t Journ. of the Royal Hort. Soc. May 1864. 


BALSAM TOLU. 263 


in benzene or carbon disulphide. Its solution in acetone is in- 
active to polarized light. 

Balsam Tolu is partly constituted of an amorphous resin which 
is insoluble in carbon disulphide, and which is apparently identical 
with the black resin precipitated from Balsam Peru by carbon 
disulphide. This resin yields by distillation a hydrocarbon which 
was termed by Berzelius Toluol, a name which is still in use on 
the Continent, but which in England has been changed into 
Toluene, C;Hgs. It is a strongly refractive liquid smelling hke 
benzene ; it boils at 110°°3, and does not solidify at —20°; oxi- 
dizing agents convert it into benzoic acid. 

Balsam Tolu contains a large quantity of cinnamic acid, which 
may be separated by boiling with water, also with carbon disul- 
phide, and identified by heating with potassium dichromate and 
sulphuric acid, when benzaldehyde will be given off in quantity. 
By distillation with water, the balsam yields one per cent. of a 
volatile oil of sp. gr. 0°945, which consists of a terpene C,)H,, 
called Tolene, boiling at about 170° C., and which rapidly absorbs 
oxygen from the air. This volatile oil of Tolu also contains com- 
pound ethers of cinnamic and benzoic acids, and is of very fine 
perfume. 

By destructive distillation, Balsam Tolu yields the same pro- 
ducts as Balsam Peru, amongst which Phenol and Styrol have 
been observed. 

This balsam does not contain either cinnamein or styracin (cin- 
namyl cinnamate), both of which are found in Balsam Peru. 

According to the researches of Kopp there are two distinct 
resins in Tolu balsam, one C;,H,,O,, and another sparingly soluble, 
C,3;H,,O;. According to Deville, however, there is only one resin, 
to which the second formula belongs. Trommsdorff obtained 
88 per cent. of resin, 12 per cent. of free acid, and only 0°2 per 
cent. of volatile oil. 

The officinal description given in the United States Dispensa- 
tory states that Balsam Tolu is “a yellowish or brownish yellow, 
semi-fluid or nearly solid mass, transparent in thin layers, and 
brittle when cold.... It is almost insoluble in water.... Warm 
carbon disulphide removes from the balsam scarcely anything but 
cinnamic and benzoic acids. On evaporating the disulphide, no 
substance having the properties of resin should be left behind.” 

It is stated that when Balsam Tolu is dissolved in the smallest 


264: ODOROGRAPHIA. 


quantity of solution of potash, it loses its own characteristic odour 
and acquires that of the Clove-Pink; also (by Alix) that the 
balsam, if heated with sulphuric acid, dissolves without disengage- 
ment of sulphurous acid, and yields a cherry-red liquid. 

To detect storax or colophony in balsam Tolu, the following 
process is recommended by Cripps *:—About 30 grams of the 
sample are digested in carbon disulphide for about 15 minutes, 
keeping it gently warm by occasional immersion in hot water. 
The clear liquid is poured off, evaporated to dryness, and when 
cold, sulphuric acid added to dissolve the resinous extract. A 
bright red-rose coloration is produced, which in the case of 
genuine tolu remains of a distinctly rose hue for some considerable 
time. If, however, the sample be adulterated with either storax 
or ordinary resin, the rose colour rapidly becomes more brown in 
tint. The best way to apply the test is by performing the opera- 
tion upon a genuine sample by the side of the suspected one. In 
this way, a distinct difference in tint can be observed if only one 
per cent. of the adulterant be present; with 4 per cent. of colo- 
phony, or rather more of storax, the difference in tint can be 
readily distinguished without the blank experiment. If to the 
sulphuric acid solution a fluid ounce of water be rapidly added, the 
colour of the resulting liquid is much duller and paler when 
colophony is present than with the pure balsam. 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] xix. p. 422, 


i) 
or) 
or 


OPOPANAX.—BDELLiUM.—MYRRH. 


CHAPTER XII. 


OPOPANAX.—BDELLIUM.—MYRRH.—BALSAM OF MECCA.— 
FRANKINCENSE. 


Oropanax, BpetLium, AND Myrru. 


Tue gum-resin formerly sold under this name has almost entirely 
disappeared from commerce. Its botanical origin is doubtful. It 
has been ascribed to Opopanax Chironium, Koch*, an Umbellife- 
rous plant indigenous to the European shores of the Mediterranean ; 
to Opopanax Persicum, Boissier +, found on Mount Elbrus, in the 
north of Persia near Passgala, and on the rocky mountains in the 
district of Kuhkilouyed in Eastern Persia; also to Diplotemia 
cachrydifolia, which occurs in high mountains extending north- 
wards of Teheran, particularly near Azadbar, a plant used by the 
Persians as a culinary vegetable and called by them Djaw-chive. 

Very extensive details of the gum-resins Sagapenum and Opo- 
panax are given in the theses by Przeciszewski, ‘ Pharmacologische 
Untersuchungen tiber Ammoniacum, Sagapenum und Opopanax,’ 
Dorpat, 1861; and Viguier, ‘Gommes résines des Ombelliféres,’ ’ 
Paris, 1869. 

In any case it isa mistake to suppose that the opopanax now 
used in perfumery is the article which until the last few years 
was known as opopanax, and which unquestionably may be ranged 
among the fetid gum-resins, it having an odour like bruised ivy 
leaves but even more disagreeable f. 

The oil of opopanax, now extensively used in perfumery, is dis- 
tilled from the fragrant gum-resin which exudes from the 
Balsamodendron Kéfal, Kunth §; Syn. Protiwm Kafal (Lindl. FI. 


* N. Act. Nat. Curics. xiii. p. 96. 

+ Diagn. sér. 2, fase. 10, p. 36. 

{ Pharm. Journ. [3] xviii. p. 624, 

§ Gen. Tereb. 16; De Cand. Prodr. ii. p. 76. 


266 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Med. p. 169); Amyris Kafal, Forsk. The term “ perfumed bdel- 
lium” would be more appropriate than “ opopanax ” to distinguish 
at. 

The Balsamodendron Kdfal is a native of Arabia, where it is 
called “ Kafal.’ The tree attains the height of 20 feet, and a very 
fragrant balsam is obtained from its fruit. 

In Dr. Dymock’s valuable ‘ Notes on Myrrh and its allied gum- 
resins’ +, mention is made of “a perfumed bdellium” being 
found in small quantities in the bales of ‘ordinary bdellium ” 
which are shipped from Berbera, on the Somali coast of the Gulf 
of Aden. It seems very likely that this is the produce of the 
Balsamodendron Kdfal of Southern Arabia. Dr. Dymock de- 
scribes this perfumed bdellium as a kind of ‘“ Bissa-bdl,” occurring 
in irregularly shaped pieces, more or less flat, some of them having 
fragments of thick bark adherent, but not the birch-like bark 
which adheres to common Bdellium. The colour of the gum is 
dark reddish brown ; opaque, yellowish-white streaks are fre- 
quently met with in the semi-transparent reddish mass which 
forms the bulk of the drug. The odour, on fresh fracture, is 
powerful and pleasant. The Arabic name in use by the Somalis 
is Habak-hadee. In Bombay vernacular it is ‘ Bysabél,” and in 
Sanskrit “ Mhaisabol.” 

Byssabal is a name also applied in India to ordinary African 
Bdellium, the produce of Balsamodendron Kataf, Kunth, syn. 
Amyris Kataf, Forskal, a native of Arabia Felix. This tree does 
not attain the height of the “ Kafal tree ” ; the shape of its leaves 
is the same, viz., palmately trifoliate and serrated at the apex, but 
its berry is globose, that of “ Kafal ” being compressed. 

The ordinary African Bissa-bél bdellium very much resembles 
myrrh, with which it has been confused by many authors, but it 
is darker and more reddish than true myrrh, has a stronger acrid 
taste, and differs also in its peculiar odour {. It is but sparingly 
soluble in bisulpbide of carbon, and the solution does not assume 
the violet shade characteristic of myrrh on the addition of bro- 
mine. 

The Indian bdellium or false myrrh, from Coromandel, is said 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] xxi. p. 838. 

+ Ibid. [3] vi. p. 641. 

{ Kew Report, 1880, p. 50; Pharmacographia, p. 146; Bentley & Trimen, 
Med. Pl. p. 60; Dymock, Mat. Med. of Western India, p. 128. 


OPOPANAX.—BDELLIUM.—MYRRH. 267 


to be the produce of Boswellia glabra, and that from the Western 
Himalaya of the Boswellia serrata*. This kind of bdellium 
softens in the hand, and has an acrid taste without the aroma of 
myrrh. The odour has a faint resemblance to that of cedar. The 
surface of the pieces frequently has hairs or fragments of a papery 
bark attached to it. Dr. Roxburgh says that the trunk of this 
tree is covered with a light coloured pellicle, as in the common 
birch, which peels off from time to time, exposing to view a smooth 
green coat, which in succession supplies other similar exfoliations fT. 
It is identical with Balsamodendron Mukul, Hooker, which grows 
in Scinde. 

Another bdellium termed “ Googu/,” from Bengal, has been attri- 
buted to Balsamodendron Mukul, Hooker t ; it somewhat resembles 
Indian bdellium in appearance, but (in the specimen in the Museum 
of the Pharmaceutical Society) the odour is different and recalls 
that of Burgundy pitch or castor. From a paper by Dr. Stocks in 
Hooker’s ‘ Journal of Botany,’ i. p. 257, it would appear that this 
tree is not identical with the B. Mukul, which, from the similarity 
of its native name ‘“‘ Googul,”’ has been mistaken for it. 

Dr. Roxburgh § observes, regarding the Bdellium googul, which 
he attributes to Amyris comiphora, that the whole tree, while 
growing, is very odoriferous, and if broken in any part diffuses 
around a grateful fragrance like that of the finest myrrh; yet that 
the juice never congeals, but is carried off by evaporation, leaving 
little or nothing behind. The googul is collected in the cold 
season by making incisions in the tree and letting the resin fall to 
the ground. Googul is used as incense. It is now many years 
since Dr. Royle remarked that “all the species of this genus re- 
quire to be examined from good and authentic specimens, accom- 
panied by their respective products, as so much doubt still remains 
in the opinions of botanists regarding the trees producing these 
substances.” Even now, in 1892, very little seems to have been 
done to clear up the doubts complained of by Dr. Royle. 

There is an “ opaque bdellium” said to be the produce of Bal- 
samodendron Playfairti, Hooker, met with in North-East India 


* Hall’s ‘Dict. of the Economic Products of India,’ Calcutta, 1889, p. 426. 
+ Flor. Ind. ii. p. 245. 

{ Cooke, ‘ Report on Gum Resins in the India Museum,’ 1874, p. 72. 

§ FL. Ind, il. p. 244. 


268 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


and called in the Somali vernacular “ Hoftai.”’ It is an opaque, 
whitish gum-resin, called in Arabic “ Dukh,” and in the Bombay 
dialect “ Meena harma.” Chemical examination has shown that 
opaque bdellium and Hotsi are far from being identical *. 

The word Myrrh is derived from a Hebrew word signifying 
amer or bitter, the Greek word cyvpva being derived from the 
Arabic Mur. The ancient Egyptian appellation Bola or Bol, and 
the Sanskrit equivalent Vola, are still retained in the modern 
Persian and Indian languages as Bol and Bola, the true Myrrh 
being called Heera-bol. This gum-resin is secreted between the 
cortical layers of the Balsamodendron Myrrha, Nees. It is a 
small tree or shrub of low stature, unattractive aspect, rigid, often 
spiny, with scanty foliage, minute flowers, and small, oval, dry 
berries. It is a native of the hot and dry countries around the 
southern extremity of the Red Sea, viz., the country about Ghizan, 
on the eastern shore of the Red Sea; the southern Arabian coast 
eastward of Aden; the Somali country south and west of Gar- 
dafui; and the region lying between Tajiira and Shoa, including 
Harar to the south-east. 

There are probably at least three distinct species of myrrh tree. 
Myrrh trees abound on the hills near to Sureea in the territory of 
the Fadhli tribe, east of Aden. The myrrh there produced is 
gathered by the Somalis, who cross over from the opposite coast 
and pay a tribute for the right of gathering it, also the gums 
bdellium and olibanum. The produce is sold at an annual fair held 
at Berbera in November, December, and January, and shipped to 
Bombay, where it is sorted. From this source is derived the 
“Turkey myrrh ” of commerce or “ myrrh of the first quality.” 

The appearance of myrrh as it exudes from the trees is that of 
an oily liquid, yellowish-white in colour, and of buttery consist- 
ence; the colour changes to golden and reddish im the process of 
drying, and it darkens and loses value by age. On arrival in 
London it appears in pieces of irregular forms and of variable sizes, 
either distinct or agglomerated, usually covered with a fine powder 
or dust. The colour varies from pale reddish-yellow to red and 
reddish-brown. The pieces are fragile, semi-transparent, with a 
dull, in part splintery, fatty kind of fracture. The odour of 
myrrh is aromatic and balsamic, peculiar, but to most persons 


* Hell's ‘ Diet. of Economic Products of India, i. p. 426. 


OPOPANAX.—BDELLIUM.— MYRRH. 269 


pleasant. The purest, palest, and most odorous pieces are sold as 
picked myrrh. Sometimes the same chest contains myrrh of all 
qualities ; it is then termed myrrh in sorts. 

Myrrh cannot be reduced to fine powder until a part of the 
essential oil and water which it contains has been dried out of it. 
On being heated it does not liquefy like resin. Water disinte- 
grates it, forming a lhght brown emulsion which, under the 
microscope, is found to be composed of colourless drops mingled 
with granules of yellow resin. Alcohol dissolves the resin of 
myrrh and leaves the non-crystalline gummy matter and frag- 
ments of bark. On treating myrrh with water, about 40 or 50 
per cent. of gum is dissolved out, sometimes as much as 67 per 
cent.; part of this can be precipitated by neutral acetate of lead, 
thus differing from gum arabic; but a part of it, about a quarter, 
resembles that gum as regards the action of acetate of lead upon 
it*. African bdellium, which is frequently found in imported 
parcels of “ unpicked myrrh,” contains a much smaller proportion 
of gum soluble in water; according to the analyses of Parker 
(Pharm. Journ. [3] xi. p. 41) the composition of African bdellium 
is as follows :— 


Soluble in alcohol ............ 15-4 
Gum soluble in water......... 332 
Gum insoluble in water...... 37°83 
Momspure: 2 he ate. 13°6 


Details of this investigation and comparative results obtained from 
other varieties of bdellium are given in the paper referred to. 

Flickiger and Hanbury found that myrrh yields on distillation 
3°4 per cent. of a thick, yellow, neutral oil, sp. gr. 0°988 at 13°. 
In a tube of 50 millim. it deviated the ray 30:1 to the left. This 
oil commenced to boil at 266°, and distilled between 270° and 
290° C. 

The Stacte (ctaxtn) often mentioned by the ancients is, ac- 
cording to Pliny, a liquid which exudes spontaneously from the 
myrrh tree +. Theophrastus { mentions two sorts of myrrh, one 
liquid and one solid, but no modern drug has been identified with 
Stacte or the liquid myrrh of the ancients; whatever it was, it was 


* Fliickiger & Hanbury, Hist. des Drogues, i. p. 272. 
+ Vincent, ‘Commerce of the Ancients,’ ii. p. 316. 
tf Tab. ix.c. 4: 


270 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


obtainable in quantity, as 150]bs. of it are said to have been 
offered by an Egyptian city to St. Sylvester at Rome*. It may 
have been “ liquid storax,” Liquidambar orientalis, Miller. 


BALSAM OF GILEAD AND BALSAM oF MEcca. 


These oleo-resins were considered to be the produce of two distinct 
trees, but it is now believed that they are derived from one and 
the same tree, or that the Balsamodendron Gileadense, Kunth +, is 
only a variety of Balsamodendron Opobalsamum, Kunth & Brandis f. 

The synonymous names under which the trees have been de- 
scribed by other authorities are Balsamodendron Ehrenbergianum, 
Berg §; Amyris Gileadensis, Linn. ||; Amyris Opobalsamum, 
Forsk. ¥ ; Balessan, Bruce ** ; Balsamea, Gled. ++; Protium Gi- 
leadense, Wright & Arnott tt ; Balsamea Meccanense, D.C. §§. 

The French translator of the ‘ Pharmacographia’ remarks :— 
“To judge by the description and figure given by Berg|||| , it was 
indeed difficult to distinguish between the plants, and our opinion 
that they were identical was fully confirmed on examining a speci- 
men of the plant sent by Berg to the Museum in Paris, labelled 
Balsamodendron Ehrenbergianum, Berg, and comparing that 
specimen with that of B. Opobalsamum in the same Herbarium.” 

There are slight variations in the analyses of this plant made by 
various botanists, but generally it is described as a small tree of 
14. to 20 feet high, with very short, slender, divergent, purplish 
branches ; sparsely furnished with small, alternate, palmately tri- 
foliate, glabrous leaves, and blunt entire leaflets. The small 
whitish flowers appear three together on separate stalks, which are 
shorter than the leaf-stalks. The flowers are of separate sexes, 
with a 4-toothed permanent calyx ; the corolla has 4 fleshy petals 
inserted under an annular disc, provided with 8 glands. The 8 


* Vignolius, ‘ Liber Pontificalis,’ 1724, i. p, 95. 

+ Gen. Tereb. p. 16; D.C. Prodr. ii. p. 76. 

{ For. Fl. p. 65; and Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 1, 1824, ii. p. 348. 

§ Reg. Bot. Zeit. 1862, p. 163. 

|| Mant. p. 6; and Vahl. Symb. i. p. 28, t. 11. 

{ Deser. p. 79; and Linn. Amn. vii. p. 68. 

** Travels, Fr. ed. t. 25. 

tt Act. Soc. Cur. Nat. Berl. iii. p. 127. 

tt Prodr.i. pine §§ Prodr., ii. p. 76. 
||| Darstell. und Beschreibung . . . offizin. Gewiichse, iv. t. 32. 


BALSAM OF MECCA. 20 


stamens are inserted under the annular, cup-shaped disc. The 
ovary is sessile, surmounted by a very short blunt style and a 
quadrilobed stigma. The berry is oval, smooth, containing a 
solitary seed. 

Guibourt finds that the second variety (B. Opobalsamum) only 
differs from the first named (B. Gileadense) in that its leaves are 
composed of one or two pairs of sessile leaflets, with an odd one *. 

These trees are very rare and difficult to cultivate. They have 
gradually disappeared from the countries where they were for- 
merly known to have grown. Thus, from Judea, where according 
to Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Justin, and Strabo, they were 
in ancient times grown, they have, since many years, completely 
disappeared. In Egypt, where they were either obtained from 
Judea or Arabia, they were cultivated between the 11th and 16th 
or 17th centuries, in a place near Cairo called Matriya. This 
garden of Matriya was 7 “ feddans,” or more than 9 arpents, in 
extent +; it was enclosed by walls and guarded by Janisaries. 
Abd-ul-Latif, who lived from 1161 to 1231, described the extrac- 
tion of the balsam at the garden of Matriya near Cairo. He says 
that incisions are made through the bark down to the wood, the 
juice is scraped from the tree and preserved in bottles, which are 
buried in the earth for a time, and afterwards exposed to the sun 
until the balsam has separated from the impurities; it is then 
subjected to some secret process, after which it is stored in the 
King’s Treasury. 

At the time of the visit of Bélon to Cairo in 1550, notwith- 
standing that the trees in this garden had many times been 
renewed by importations from Mecca, there remained only 9 or 10 
trees, almost leafless, and no longer yielding balsam. The last 
tree died in 1615, through an inundation of the Nile. Therefore 
it is no longer Egypt or Judea which furnishes balsam of Mecca, 
but rather Arabia Felix, in the environs of Medina and Mecca, 
where the tree grows naturally, and where it has never ceased to 
exist. It is stated that the tree grows near Bederhunin, a village 
between Mecca and Medina, in a sandy, rocky soil, confined to a 
tract about a mile in length. 

Strabo alone, of all the ancient writers, has given an account of 


* Hist. des Drogues, ili. p. 506. 
+ ‘Relation de Egypte,’ traduite par Sylvestre de Sacy, Paris, 1810. 


272 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


the place of its origin. ‘‘ Near to this,” he says, “is the most 
happy land of Sabeans, Saba, Sheba, or Arabia Felix, and they 
are a very great people. Among them frankincense, myrrh, and 
cinnamon grow, and in the coast that is about Saba, the balsam 
also, among the myrrh trees behind Azab ; all along the coasts, to 
the Straits of Babelmandeb, is its native country.” We need not 
doubt that it was early transplanted into Arabia, that is, into 
the south part of Arabia Felix, immediately fronting Azab. The 
first plantation that succeeded seems to have been at Petra, the 
ancient metropolis of Arabia, now called Beder or Beder .Huuein. 
(Hall states, ‘Economic Plants of India,’ Caleutta, 1889, that it 
is found on both sides of the Red Sea, south of 22° N. lat., and 
is also recorded from several places on the Nubian coast and in 
Abyssinia. It is met with on the Asiatic side of Ghizandad in 
Arabia, at Aden and Yemen.) Afterwards, being transplanted 
into Palestine, it obtained the name of Balsamum Judaicum and 
Balm of Gilead, and became an article of commerce there. 

According to Bruce, the tree is only 5 or 6 feet high, branching 
much, with the aspect of a standard cherry tree, having red 
branches and white flowers, but according to other observers the 
tree attains a height of 14 to 20 feet. 

In the beginning of April the trees drop their juice from gashes 
which are made in the smaller branches into vessels set under them 
to receive it. A tree will not yield more than 10 to 15 drachms 
in one season. Another account says the wound in the tree is 
made in July or August, when the juice is in its strongest circula- 
tion; it is then received into small earthen bottles, and every 
day’s produce is poured into a larger vessel, which is kept closely 
corked. The Balsam of Judea appears to be the same balsam 
adulterated. An inferior sort of balsam is prepared by boiling the 
twigs in a quantity of water; the balsamic matter rises to the 
surface and is skimmed off. After they have procured all they 
can, it is said that they increase the fire, and a large quantity of 
thicker balsam rises, which is preserved separately and is prin- 
cipally the description which is sent to Europe. The other can 
only be obtained as presents, and that which naturally distils from 
the trees hardly being sufficient to supply the Seraglio and great 
officers of State, there is none of it sent out of the country. 
This in Europe is never obtained genuine. Guibourt mentions 
having obtained it pure, but says it is of great rarity, and that it 


BALSAM OF MECCA. 273 


is put up in square leaden bottles containing about 250 grammes, 
but is, as a rule, adulterated, and many chemists even sell Chian 
turpentine or Canada balsam instead of it. Oil of sesamum is 
likewise used as an adulterant. 

According to Prosper Alpinius* the true balsam is at first 
turbid and white, of very strong pungent smell, like that of 
turpentine, but much sweeter, with a bitter, acrid, astringent taste ; 
upon being kept for some time it becomes thin and limpid, of a 
greenish hue, then of a golden yellow, and at length of the colour 
of honey. A drop of the balsam, when let fall into a vessel con- 
taining water, at first sinks to a certain depth, and then rising to 
the surface, instantly and completely spreads out into a thin 
nebulous film, which under a magnifying-glass presents the 
appearance of an infinite number of little globules uniformly 
spread over the entire surface of the water. After about a quarter 
of an hour this film solidifies, by reason of the rapid evaporation 
of its volatile oil; it can then be lifted out entire on the point of 
a pencil. This invariable property was first observed by Prosper 
Alpinius + ; it is of great exactness and is one of the best tests of 
the purity of the balsam. It was confirmed by Guibourt on 
experimenting with a sample which he had reason to believe was 
quite pure, aud with which sample he made the following further 
observations :—The balsam thickens with age, becomes more brown 
in colour, and does not rise so quickly and spread out on the surface 
of water; a natural result of resinification and loss of volatile oil. 
When rubbed on the hand, the balsam rapidly loses its volatile oil 
and becomes very sticky. Dropped on paper it spreads a little, 
but does not penetrate or render the paper transparent. After 
twelve hours of exposure to the air, the drop of balsam becomes 
so adhesive that on doubling the paper in two it becomes difficult 
to separate the sheet without tearing it. On being triturated 
with an eighth of its weight of oaleied magnesia it does not 
solidify as do the turpentines of pines and several balsams. Five 
grammes of balsam mixed with 30 grammes of 90 per cent. alcohol 
form a liquid white as milk, which only becomes transparent after 
being left standing for 8 or 10 days; a glutinous matter being 
then deposited which consists of insoluble resin. This resin 


* ‘Dialogue du Baume,’ traduction d’Antoine Collin, Lyon, 1819. 
+ Ibid. p. 61. 
ue 


274 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


readily dries on paper without penetrating it and without render- 
ing it transparent. 

In Bombay the balsam is known as Balsdn-Ka-tel. It is 
imported from Arabia under the Arabic designation Duhnul- 
balasén. When freshly imported it is a greenish-yellow turbid 
oleo-resin of the consistency of honey, of powerful pleasant odour, 
somewhat like rosemary. The balsam is in high esteem among 
the Eastern nations as a medicine, as an odoriferous unguent, and 
as a cosmetic. 

In the dialects of Persia and Bombay the wood of this tree is 
called Ude-i-balasdn, the word ude being pronounced broadly as 
aood, which approaches the English word “wood” when pro- 
nounced slowly. This wood, known to the druggists as Xylobal- 
samum, consists of small branches about 16 centimétres in length 
and as thick asa pen, marked with small alternate excrescences 
which are the remnants of the secondary branches which bore the 
flowers. The bark is of a reddish brown, marked with regular 
longitudinal streaks; the wood is white, hard, of very feeble 
perfume, and devoid of taste by reason of age. Guibourt men- 
tions having also met with, at the native druggists, small tips of 
branches 11 to 14 millimétres in length and of not more than 2 
millimétres in thickness, covered with a rough reddish bark 
transversely striated; this substance was of an aromatic, rather 
bitter taste, and of a sweet agreeable odour when perceived in 
bulk. On being pinched by the hand it developed a strong odour 
sunilar to that of rosemary. 

The fruit or berries of the tree, called in Persian Tukhme-i- 
Balasdén, and in the Bombay and Arabic dialects Habul-Balasdn, 
are also imported into India and kept by the native druggists. 
They are known as Carpobalsamum. They are of a greyish-red 
colour, about the size of a pea, pomted at the ends. The kernel 
is oily and of agreeable aromatic taste. Dr. Dymock reports * 
having compared these berries with the figures and descriptions 
given in Bentley and Trimen’s ‘ Medicinal Plants’ (t. 59) and 
considers there can be no doubt of their identity. If soaked in 
water they soften, so that they can be easily dissected, and the 
remarkable form of the pulpy layer within the epicarp is seen. 
Sections of the epicarp show very large ramifying balsam cells, 
which appear to communicate one with another. 


* Pharm, Journ. [3] viii. p. 104, 


FRANKINCENSE. 275 


Both the wood and the fruit are used medicinally by Yunani 
Hakims of India. 


FRANKINCENSE OR OLIBANUM. 


Records of the employment of Frankincense in the celebration 
of religious services date back into the remotest antiquity, and 
it is remarkable that a controversy has been going on for ages 
concerning the identity of the trees yielding it. 

“Frankincense ” is largely imported into London under the 
name of Gum Olibanum, and is used principally for compounding 
incense for burning in the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches. 
The Greek word \iBavos, the Latin Olibanum, the Arabic Luban, 
and analogous words in other languages are all derived from the 
Hebrew Lebonah, which signifies milk, in allusion to the sap of the 
trees, which, before becoming dry by exposure to the air, has the 
appearance of milk. Under the name of Ju-siang, meaning 
perfume of milk, this drug was imported into China from Arabia 
as far back as the tenth century, and is still imported to a large 
extent at Shanghai to this day. 

Even at present the trees yielding the olibanum of commerce 
are still imperfectly known, but it is believed that this gum-resin 
is obtained by incision and exudation from the stems of various 
species of Boswellia, natives of hot, arid districts on the moun- 
tains of Hadramaut along the south-eastern coast of Arabia, and 
of the opposite shore of North-eastern Africa, on the limestone 
mountains which extend westward from Cape Gardafui through 
the country of the Soumalis. The bulk of the commercial oli- 
banum is probably derived from Boswellia Carterii, Birdwood, 
called Mohr Madow by the Soumalis, and Maghrayt @ Sheehaz by 
the Maharas in Arabia, this species being presumed to be found 
in both countries. Also from Boswellia Bhau Dhajiana, Birdwood, 
called Mohr-Add by the Soumalis. The arguments on this 
subject are gone into at considerable length by Dr. Birdwood in 
the ‘ Transactions of the Linnean Society,’ xxvii. p. 143, botanical 
descriptions and figures of the trees being given, also those of the 
tree yielding a variety called Lubin Meyeti*, which is not found 
in European commerce. Inthe London Drug Market olibanum is 


* Sometimes spelt Maitee. 


T2 


276 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


characterized as ‘ African”? and “ Indian,” which are misleading 
terms, as both are produced from the above-mentioned trees in 
Southern Arabia and North-eastern Africa, but as it is partly 
shipped direct, and partly shipped first to Bombay before being 
forwarded to London, the mistaken idea may have arisen that 
some of it was produced in India, and was thought to be yielded 
by the Boswellia serrata of Colebrooke, but it is now known that 
although this tree furnishes an aromatic gum-resin used as incense 
in India, it is not found im any notable quantity in any European 
market. Therefore the “ Indian” and the “ African” olibanum 
do not differ in their origin and nature, but only in their quality. 
The description given by Vaughan * on the subject of African 
Olibanum is as follows:—“‘The Lubdn tree is a native of the 
eastern coast of Africa and flourishes on the highlands which 
intersect the whole of the Soumali country, where I have had an 
opportunity of seeing it not far from Cape Gardafui. The hill- 
ranges on the eastern coast of Africa are composed entirely of 
white limestone, in some parts so compact as to resemble alabaster ; 
this appears to be the soil most genial to the tree, and in no 
instance did I find it growing in sand or loam. ‘The tree is first 
met with at afew miles inland from the coast, and at an altitude of 
about 300 feet above the level of the sea. its appearance is strikingly 
singular, seeming at first to be destitute of roots and clinging to 
the hard uncreviced rock by masses of a rhomboidal and fantas- 
tically shaped wood, with the most obstinate adherence. The 
stem is nearly at right angles with this substance, ascending 
almost invariably in an upright direction, and attaining the height 
of from 12 to 15 feet. At the base the circumference is equal to 
that of a man’s thigh, gradually tapering towards the top, where 
it shoots off its branches and leaves. The wood is white, fibrous, 
and somewhat soft, the bark is of a light brown colour, very 
succulent, and covered with a glossy cuticle. This usually bursts 
or cracks with the natural increment of the tree, and may then be 
removed in cutaneous flakes, when it presents an appearance not 
unlike that of prepared oil-paper, and something akin to a similar 
coating observable on the English birch. The old and decayed 
portions of the tree assume a cinereous hue, whereby they are 
easily distinguishable from the younger and more healthy plants. 
At the proper season incisions are made in the stem, from which 


* Pharm. Journ. 1853, xii. p. 228. 


FRANKINCENSE. 277 
the juice flows forthwith in a copious stream (frequently covering 
the entire stem), until the wounds are closed by the desiccation of 
the fluid into a gum. In this state the trees glisten in their rich 
investiture, and, as if vexed at being prevented from pouring forth 
all their store, the bark distends from the abundance of the sap 
within. After the juice is inspissated and dried by the action of 
the atmosphere and the sun, it is scraped off the trees and the 
ground beneath and collected by the natives, who store it in large 
loose heaps at particular places on the sea-coast. It is then 
packed in sheep and goat skins and transported on camels to the 
great fair held in Berbera, from whence it is shipped in native 
vessels to Aden and other parts on the Arabian coast. It is, 
however, sometimes purchased by the Banians and sent direct to 
the Bombay market. The olibanum of commerce appears in 
oblong, pear-shaped, or rounded tears, of a yellow or reddish 
colour; always covered externally with a fine white dust, and even 
where that is wiped off the tears appear translucent, milky, and 
semi-opaque, but the finest quality is almost colourless and of a 
greenish tint. When rubbed in a mortar with water it forms a 
white emulsion. It softens between the teeth, producing an 
aromatic, slightly rough taste. Its odour is agreeably aromatic, 
but is only developed by exposing the substance to a high temper - 
ature. It is but partially soluble in water and alcohol. It melts 
with difficulty and imperfectly when heated. At 100° C. it 
softens without melting, and on the temperature being raised it 
begins to decompose. It burns with a bright white flame on the 
approach of a taper.” 

According to Braconnet * it contains 56 per cent. resin soluble 
in alcohol (but insoluble in alkalies), and 8 per cent. of essential 
oil. The chemical constitution of the resin agrees nearly with the 
formula C,H 3,0. The residue, about 33 per cent., was found by 
Hekmejer + to consist of a gum identical with gum arabic. 

By distillmg this gum resin with water in a cast-iron retort, an 
oul is obtained constituting about 7 per cent. of the resin taken 
alcohol extracts from the residue about 72 per cent. of resin, and 
the remainder is gum. The crude oily distillate boils between 
160° and 170°, and contains oxygen, as Stenhouse previously 


* Ann. Chim. Phys, [2] lviii. p. 60. 
+ Jahresb. 1858, p. 482. 


278 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


observed *, By fractional distillation a terpene, known as olibene, 
boiling at 156°-158° and sp. gr. 0°862 at 12°, is obtained, together 
with a small quantity of an oxidized substance boiling above 175° 
and not yielding a hydrocarbon when treated with sodium. 
Olibene is identical with pinene ; it is soluble in alcohol and ether, 
and is resinified by nitric acid; it absorbs 1 molecule of hydrogen 
chloride, giving on standing a crystalline camphor-like body, 
C,)H,,HCl, which melts at 127°. 

The resin, exhausted as above by alcohol, melts rapidly and 
yields by dry distillation traces of an organic acid, and an oil 
which boils above 860°, and contains less oxygen than the resin 
itself +. 

The Boswellia serrata (B. glabra), Roxburgh {, synonymous 
with B. thurifera, Colebrooke §, above referred to as being a 
native of mountainous parts of India, and producing a gum-resin 
consumed there, is figured by Roxburgh || and described by Royle 
as found at Oude and Rohileund; also at Behar by Hooker, and 
at Kattyawar by Birdwood. Colebrooke found it between Séne 
and Nagpur, on the route by which he travelled to Berar. | 

The natives of India recognize the two varieties of this plant, 
foliola ovato-oblonga and foliola lineari-lanceolata, of which Rox- 
burgh made two species, and distinguish between their gum-resins. 
Birdwood remarks that from his observations the gum-resin has 
been either stalactiform, like the runnings of a wax candle, or in 
small tears, and always so soft that when kept im a bottle, in a 
short time, it ran into an oleo-resinous mass, with the smell of 
frankincense, but more turpentiny. He adds that he often tried to 
get regular tears of olibanum from this plant, but never succeeded 
‘in getting anything else than soft, oleo-resinous “ runnings ” from 
it, which even after months’ exposure on the trunk still remained 
quite soft. In Khandeish the olibanum produced by this plant is 
sold under the name of Dup-Salai (7.e. incense of Salai) in the 
village bazaars. 

As regards the “ Lubin Meyeti” above-mentioned, it has been 
proved to be the produce of astrongly marked species of Boswellia, 


* Ann. Ch. Pharm. xxxyv. p. 306. 

+ Kurbatow, Zeitsch. f. Chem. [2] vii. p. 201. 
{ Flor. Ind. ii. p. 883. 

§ ‘ Asiatic Researches,’ ix. p. 377, tab. 5. 

|| Cor. ii. tab. 207. 


FRANKINCENSE. 279 


viz., the B. Frereana, Birdwood. Kempthorne thus describes 
it * :—“ The tree is one of the most extraordinary plants I ever saw, 
quite a dusus nature of the vegetable world, for the trees actually 
grow out of the sides of the almost polished rocks. ... The trees 
were about 40 feet high, the stem was about 2 feet in circumfer- 
ence, rising straight up, with a bend outwards of 6 or 7 inches. 
They are attached most firmly to the rocks by a thick oval mass of 
substance, about a foot or so in diameter, something resembling a 
mixture of lime and mortar. Branches spring out rather scantily 
at the top and extend a few feet down the stem; the leaves are 5 
inches or so long and 14 broad, narrowing and rounding towards 
the point, but not serrated at the edges; the upper surface is of a 
rich dark shining green, while the lower is of a lighter hue; they 
are thin and smooth, and crimped like that beautiful species of 
seaweed so often found on the coast of England. The tree has 
four layers of bark, the outer being coarse and loose, like that of 
the beech, while the next two are as it were glued to the trunk 
and delicately fine, resembling ,oiled paper or gold-beaters’ skin, 
and of a bright amber colour; this bark is perfectly transparent, 
and can be stripped off easily in large sheets; the natives use it 
for writing on. The inner bark of all is an mch or so in thick- 
ness, adhering closely to the stem; it is tough, not unlike leather, 
striped red and white, and yields a strong aromatic perfume. 
The timber is white, soft, porous, and of little use except as fire- 
wood. A deep incision into the bark causes the odoriferous resin 
to exude in large quantities, which is of a milky white and of the 
consistency of honey; but it soon hardens by exposure to the 
atmosphere. It isa remarkable fact that not a single frankin- 
cense-tree did I perceive growing upon any other rocks than those 
of almost pure limestone.” 

Dr. Birdwood concludes his description of this tree as follows 7 : 
“ As I saw this plant in Playfair’s garden at Aden in September 
last, m young leaf and covered with bloom, I was much struck 
by its elegant singularity. The long racemes of green star-like 
flowers, tipped with the red anthers of the stamens (like aigrettes 
of little stars of emerald set with minute rubies), droop gracefully 
over the clusters of glossy glaucous leaves ; and every part of the 


* Trans. Bombay Geo. Society, xiii. 1857. 
t Trans. Linn. Soc. xxvii. p. 148. 


280 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


plant,—bark, leaves, and flowers,—gives out the most refreshing 
lemon-like fragrance.” 

The Lubin Meyeti is collected chiefly by the Abardagahala 
tribe of Soumalis. The season for piercing the trees from which 
it is produced is during the north-east monsoon in the months of 
July and August. 

This oleo-resin is shipped from the ports east of Karam, 45° 
41' E. long., to Egypt, Trieste, the Red Sea ports, and Bombay, a 
small portion only being consigned to the United Kingdom. 

The external appearance of Lubin Meyeti of the finest descrip- 
tion is on the whole very different from the various sorts of 
olibanum ; its bulk being not constituted of separate tears but of 
stalactitic masses. 

It is moreover different inasmuch as it is an oleo-resin, not a gum- 
resin. At a meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society, Nov. 1876, 
attention was drawn by the Curator of the Museum to a fine speci- 
men showing the peculiar papery bark on its under surface, and 
distinguished from other varieties of olibanum by a peculiar whitish 
efflorescence on its surface and stratified opaque white layers in its 
interior. 


West Arrican FRANKINCENSE. 

The tree furnishing this product is the Daniellia thurifera, 
Bennett. It is plentiful in the peninsula of Sierra Leone and 
circumjacent regions. In Sierra Leone it is called the “ Bungo 
tree.’ The mountainous districts to the westward of Freetown, 
and the wooded slopes in the neighbourhood of York, Lumley, and 
Gooderich, are the localities in which it principally abounds, 
although it has been observed on the banks of the Sherbro and 
other adjoining rivers. 

The frankincense-tree grows to a large size, and may be distin- 
guished without difficulty by the erect and stately trunk and 
beautiful foliage. When of advanced age its recognition is 
rendered still more certain by the peculiar grey or ash-like colour 
of the bark and massive divergent branches, which expand into a 
mass of foliage at an altitude of fifty or sixty feet from the 
ground to a considerable distance around. During the early 
years of growth, the young plant has the bark of a deep brown, 
which changes gradually in colour as it enlarges in magnitude. 
When of moderate size the entire circumference of the trunk is 


FRANKINCENSE. 281 


studded by a series of horizontal excrescences or oblong elevations 
in the cortical covering, of a pale or yellowish brown hue, ap- 
pearing in dense parallel but disconnected strata, a quarter of an 
inch or more apart, and varying from one sixth to one inch n 
length and about one or two lines in breadth. Being of a lighter 
tint than the surrounding portions they are distinctly perceptible, 
and answer as a diagnostic peculiarity to identify the lesser shoots. 
As the tree approaches maturity, these elevated projections pro- 
portionately diminish, and the cortex, while partially retaining its 
smoothness, becomes traced by irregular patches of white or grey. 
In the course of time these patches enlarge to such an extent as to 
embrace in many instances the entire surface of the exterior. The 
inner cortical layers in plants of an immature development 
present a peculiar fibrous character, are delicately organized, and 
may be peeled off in smooth ribbon-like layers, which cannot be 
effected in the older specimens. 

The leaves are bi-pinnate, of a pale green pervaded by a greyish 
tint that also characterizes the trunk. In the younger productions 
they are of larger development, but the pinne are less numerous 
than in those of a later growth. 

The gum, when a natural exudation, mostly appears in a liquid 
state, of a white or pale straw-colour, in some seasons oozing so 
copiously from the branches that the ground and shrubs beneath 
are from successive excretions thickly covered with white spots. 
This effusion, however, does not occur so abundantly from the 
cortex, and when so produced appears in thin and shallow layers, 
that mark their course by whitish streaks which, after their exsic- 
cation on the trunk, present all the aspects of a saline efflorescence. 

The frankincense-tree is subject to the attack of a certain insect 
termed by the natives Tumbo, which deeply perforates the bark in 
various directions. Its progress is attended by long and sinuous 
passages, the woody débris from which is ejected externally by a 
circular orifice about an inch in diameter. In the course of a few 
days the gummy liquid issues largely from this aperture, blended 
with minute ligneous particles, which in their transit through these 
excavations acquire a ruddy or brown tint , by degrees accumulating 
in small masses and falling to the earth. In this state they become 
converted into dark brown fragments after a short interval, and 
are then gathered by the negro women and children who resort to 
the woods with the express purpose of collecting them. Another 


282 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


mode of procuring the gum consists in stripping the dead or un- 
sound bark from the wood, the more decayed portions of which are 
commonly saturated with the gummy exudation, and are found 
amalgamated with the woody fibre beneath in black crusts. 

Two kinds of frankincense are found in the market of Free- 
town, both of which are evidently the product of the same tree. 
The first can be partly recognized by the dark brown or black 
shining irregular fragments, and from apparently having a larger 
amount of gum blended with the woody fibre than the other, 
which is met with in smaller and less compact pieces, more friable, 
and of a lighter brown or yellow tint, being chiefly constituted of 
white woody particles cemented into masses by the excreted gum. 
Of these two varieties the latter is the least valued. The incense- 
like fragrance of these woody resinous excretions renders them 
available for a variety of uses, as a perfume and for fumigation. 
The native females triturate the gum with lime manufactured from 
sea-shells between two purposely adapted stones, and rub their 
bodies with the fine powder so produced. The bark is endowed with 
similar odoriferous properties in a lesser degree. The ignition of 
the gum is rapid; a bright yellow flame, attended with a black 
carbonaceous smoke, resulting. This is followed by the deposition 
of a viscid oleaginous matter and the evolution of a remarkably 
aromatic and semi-resinous odour, approximating to that produced 
from the common pastilles, for which they would form a substitute 
for use in the sick chamber or for perfuming the atmosphere of 
apartments. 

The gum is sold by the native traders under the designation 
Bungo, the same name as applied to the tree. The above in- 
formation is abstracted from a paper by Dr. Daniell contributed to 
the ‘ Pharmaceutical Journal’ [1] xiv. p. 400. A complete 
botanical description of this tree, which is of the Order Legumi- 
nose, suborder Cesalpinice, is given by Bennett at page 251 of the 
‘same volume. 


——— 


LIGN-ALOES. 283 


CHAPTER XIII. 


LIGN-ALOES.—PATCHOULI.—VETIVER.—CAMEL GRASS.— 
HENNAH. 


OrIENTAL LIGN-ALOES. 


AN enquiry into the history of Lign-aloes shows that an odor- 
iferous substance bearing the name of Ahalim or Ahaloth was 
known to the ancient Jews*, which in the Greek was called addons Ft, 
also at a later date “ Agallochon” by the Greeks and Romans. 
The Arabs corrupted the term into Agha-likhi, Agulugin, and 
Yelunjooj, but subsequently adopted the terms Ood or Add, 
meaning “ wood,” and Atd-hindi, “ Indian wood,” as technical 
names for Aloes-wood. In Sanskrit it is called Agaru, from which 
is derived the Western Hindi name Agar, Aggur, etc. In Persian, 
it is Owd-hindee; in Malay, Garu ; in Siamese, Nwahmi; in 
Chinese, Niaw-cha; and in Portuguese, Poa d’Agila. It is known 
in English as Eagle-wood, Aloe-wood, Oriental Lign-aloes, and by 
the old commercial and pharmacological names Lignum Aquilz, 
Agallochum, and Agallage. 

Indian Lign-aloes or “ Kagle-wood” is obtained from the 
Aquilaria Agallocha identified and described by Roxburgh {. It 
is a native of the mountainous districts to the east and south-east 
of Silhet (especially on the Jaintiya Hills), the most easterly pro- 
vince of Bengal, in about lat. 24°-25° N. The order Aquilarinee 
only comprises three (supposed) species of the genus Agquilaria, 


* Ps. xlvy. 8; Prov. vii. 17; Song of Sol. iv. 14. 

t John xix. 39. adé s, meaning “ wood of” aloe. 

{ Fi. Ind. ii. p. 422; Trans. Linn. Soe. xxi. p. 199, where it is figured; and 
De Cand, Prodr. xiv. p. 601. 


284 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


inhabitants of tropical South-west Asia, the Malay Peninsula and 
Archipelago, and Borneo. On the Jaintiya Hills the A. Agallocha 
attains a height of 100 feet, with a trunk about 12 feet in cireum- 
ference. In Assam it is found even of still larger size. The tree 
is found both in sandy and clayey soils ; both in the plains and 
on the sides and tops of the hills. The trunk and branches are 
generally crooked. The wood is white, very light, soft and porous 
like deal, but modorous, nearly tasteless, and quite useless, except 
that part containing the perfume. 

The wood is chiefly cut at one period of the year, viz. the dry 
season; the collection is described as a precarious and tedious 
business, as few trees contain the perfume, and such as do have 
it partially distributed in the trunk and branches. The people — 
employed in this business proceed two or three days’ journey 
among the hills, jungles, and mountains, and without discrimi- 
nation cut down the trees as they are found, young, old, and 
withered, but the latter are generally preferred (the trees are 
known on the spot by the Bengal name Tuggur). They then on 
the spot search for the Aggur or perfumed part, which is done 
by chopping off the bark, and into the wood until they observe 
dark-coloured veins, yielding the perfume which guides them to 
the place containing the aggur, which generally extends but a 
short way through the centre of the trunk or branch. In this 
manner they search through the whole tree and bring away only 
such portions as contain the oil, or have the smell of it. Neither 
root, leaves, nor bark yield any oil. The formation of the aggur is 
really the result of disease, sometimes occurring where the tree 
has at some previous time been wounded or injured by a branch 
being broken off. To expedite this condition pieces of the wood 
are often buried in moist ground to decay, and afterwards dug up. 
Parts which have undergone this change become oily, heavy, and 
black. They occur in fragments of various sizes and shapes, and 
when cut out are tested by being thrown into water; those parts 
which sink are the most valuable and are called Gharki. Any 
portions of unmellowed wood are carefully separated from it. 
Specimens which sink but partially are termed Nimgharki or 
Samaleh-i-aala, and those which float Semleh or dregs, and are the 
least esteemed. This fragrant substance is of various sorts, dis- 
tinguished by the names Atid Hindi Agar, which is the darkest ; 
the Samaduri, named from the district in which it is produced, 


LIGN-ALOES. 285 


having a more unctuous appearance than the first named; the 
Kumari and the Mandali, both also named after districts; the 
Kumari being of a lighter colour and the Mandali (or Gomandali) 
the most fragrant of all. 

The names Bart and Jabali have also been used to identify 
certain pale sorts marked with black lines or streaks. 

The oil or “ Uttur,” called also “ Agar-atar” and “ Agar-ka- 
itr,” is a perfume much admired in India. The process of ex- 
traction consists in bruising the wood in a mortar, or rasping it, 
macerating it m water and then distillmg it. It is sometimes 
adulterated by adding raspings of santal-wood to the still, and 
some fraudulent dealers sell lumps of the Agar after the oil has 
been distilled from it. 

Dr. Dymock states* that the varieties of Agar found in the 
Bombay market are three:—the Siam or Mawurdhee, the Singa- 
pore, and the Gargulee, also a wood resembling aloes in appearance 
called Tagger (probably obtained from Zanzibar), which is odor- 
iferous, and is used to adulterate the true Agar. 

Some of the specimens found in commerce in India may be 
derived from the two other species of Aguilaria, as the A. secun- 
daria, De C.,a native of the Moluccas +, it only differs from the A. 
Agallocha of Roxburgh in that its leaves are gradually acuminated 
and not abruptly so; also, although the A. Malaccensis is defined 
by Lamarck { as distinct from the other two species of Aqui- 
laria, Roxburgh considered it identical with his 4. Agallocha ; it 
isa native of Malacca and called Garo de Malacca, also Bois 
d@aigle. Cavanilles describes and gives a figure of the Garo de 
Malacca in his seventh Dissertation, p. 377, t. 224, under the 
name Aguilaria ovata, which is continued by Willdenow in his 
edition of the ‘Species Plantarum of Linneus,’ vol. ii. p- 629. 
His description differs very little from that of Lamarck, and his 
figures are considered by Roxburgh to agree with his A. Agallocha ; 
but whether the three species be distinct or not, the perfumed 
substance is yielded by all of them. 

Gamble says § that “ dkyan (the Burmese name for Agallocha) 


. * Mat. Med. Ind. pp. 239-241. 

+ Prodr. ii. p. 559, and Rumph. Amb. ii. tab. 10. 

t Encyel. i. p. 49. 

§ ‘ List of Trees and Shrubs of the Darjeeling District,’ 1878, and ‘Manual of 
Indian Timbers,’ 1881. ., 


286 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


is the most important produce of the forests of South Tenasserim 
and the Mergui Archipelago.” Another writer (Kurz) says “ the 
wood is very light, yellowish white, coarse, fibrous, and scentless, 
but closely-grained and takes a pale brown polish,” and that “ the 
fragrant wood ‘ Ood’ is also largely used for making jewel-cases, 
and indeed precious stones are frequently set in it. It is also 
used for making ornaments and rosary beads.”’ It is stated to be 
worth about £30 per cwt. for 1st quality (Sumatran) ; £20, 2nd 
quality (Malaccan); and £2 10s., 3rd quality (Malaccan and Indian). 
It should melt like wax when fresh and emit an agreeable odour. 

It is used as incense. Reduced to powder, mixed with cedar 
dust and clay, it is manufactured into joss-sticks. 


CuinesE LIGN-ALOES. 


The finest Lign-aloes is produced by the Aloexylon, Loureiro * 
(Cynometra agallocha, Spreng. +). It is a native of Cochin-China, 
on the highest mountains, and of the Molucca Islands. 

The genus Aloexylon, described by Loureiro and said to include 
but this one species, is not very well known, and is rather doubt- 
fully referred to the natural order “ Leguminose.” Itis described 
as being of about 60 feet in height, with erect branches, and 
simple, alternate, lanceolate, stalked, entire leaves and terminal 
flowers. The legume is described as woody, smooth, faleate, and 1- 
seeded. The account given by Loureiro of the nature and production 
of Lign-aloes by this tree in the ‘Memorias de la Academia Real das 
Sciencias,’ 1. pp. 402-415, presents a striking similarity in many 
respects to the tree yielding Agar in the vicinity of Silhet, viz. :—. 
smoothness and fibrous texture of the bark (of which paper is 
made in both countries), shape, texture, and appearance of the 
leaves, in the want of odour and taste in every part of the tree 
except the part yielding the drug itself; in the wood bemg 
light, white, porous, ete. Loureiro’s description being considered 
incomplete or inconclusive, his genus was set aside by some 
writers of botanical text-books, as by Bentham and Hooker in 
their ‘Genera Plantarum.’ Roxburgh placed but little confidence 
in Loureiro’s description of the parts of fructification, as he 


* Flor. Cochinchinensis, p. 267 ; De C. Prodr. ii. p. 518. 
T Syst. ii. p. 327. 


LIGN-ALOES. 287 


(Loureiro) acknowledges, in Willdenow’s edition of his ‘ Flora 
Cochinchinensis,’ to have only once seen a mutilated branch of 
the tree in flower, “ which, by long carriage, had the petals, 
anthers, and stigma much bruised and torn.” ‘As not much cre- 
dence can be placed in the natural character of a plant written 
under such circumstances, and as the natives of Cochin-China may 
have supplied him with the fruit of some other tree for that of his 
Aloexylum, Roxburgh, in his description of the genus Agquilaria, 
was inclined to think that the trees producing the aloes-wood of 
Cochin-Chinaand the Agar from the vicinity of Silhet were the same. 
On the other hand, there is the opinion of the celebrated botanist 
DeCandolle, who classed the Aloexylon Agallochum in Leguminose. 
In any case it is an acknowledged fact that this perfumed wood is 
found in the greatest perfection in the mountainous country to the 
east of the Gulf of Siam, including Camboja and Cochin-China 
between the 8th and 14th degrees of N. lat., and that the quality 
found near Silhet in Bengal is inferior to it. 

The Malayan name specifically for the wood of Aloexylon Agal- 
lochum is Kalambak. 

The perfume extracted from the swellings produced on the tree 
where branches have been broken off is known im Cochin-China 
under the name of Tramtoc. A tree producing Lign-aloes has also 
been found on the island of Hainan. 

Large forests of trees yielding “ Kalambak” are found in 
Campar, on the eastern side of Sumatra, and opposite to 
Malacca. 

A wood having a strong resemblance in perfume to Kalambak 
or Agallocha (and according to Rumphius hardly distinguishable 
from it) is yielded by the Excecaria Agallocha, L., a small tree 
belonging to the family of the EHuphorbiacee, found along the 
coast of Burmah, from Chittagong to Tenasserim. Its name 
Excecariais due to the fact that it contains an acid lactescent sap, 
which the labourer has to beware of in cutting the wood, as if he 
happens to get a drop of it in the eyes it is apt to produce blind- 
ness. The colour of the wood is of a rusty brown. It is hard 
and brittle as glass, very bitter, very resinous, and very inflam- 
mable. In comparing this to Agallocha, Rumphius evidently re- 
ferred to the perfume alone, as genuine fresh Agallocha is soft 
enough to be easily scratched by the thumb-nail, although harden- 
ing by age. 


288 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Mexican LIGN-ALor. 


This wood is derived from an entirely different plant to any 
which yield the Oriental Lign-aloes, and has not the slightest claim 
to be regarded as the Lign-aloes of the Bible. 

The first importation of the wood into London, in 1869, was in 
the form of squared logs, consisting of a central portion of irregular 
outline, and of a pale ferruginous-brown, surrounded with wavy, 
darker, band-like markings, the contiguous outer portion being of 
a dull iron-grey. In Guibourt’s Hist. des Drogues, ii. p. 491, it 
is referred to under the name of ‘ Bois de Citron du Mexique,” 
as being internally white, with very irregular, slightly brownish, 
longitudinal veins; very light and porous, and having a strong 
odour of citron. 

It has been described as found in abundance in the Misteca, 
and the meridian of Matamoros, also on the mountains about the 
valley of Colima. 

Although the essential oil of Mexican Lign-aloe has been a 
commercial article in Europe for many years, and was noticed in 
the columns of the ‘Pharmaceutical Journal’ in 1869 by Mr. 
Collins, the Curator at that time of the Society’s Museum, nothing 
definite was published concerning its botanical source until 1884, 
when a description of the trees yielding the oil was published by 
Poisson in the ‘ Bulletin de l’Assoc. Frang. pour Pavancement des 
Sciences,’ xiii. p. 305, pl. x. (Blois, 1884). The author of that 
article was led to enquire into the botanical source of the product 
through seeing specimens of the wood and oil at the Paris Exhi- 
bition of 1878, where they were exhibited by Ollivier and Rous- 
seau, of Paris, who obtained specimens of the leaves, flowers, and 
fruit from their correspondent in Mexico, M. Delpech, in whose 
honour the tree has been named by M. Poisson. The complete 
botanical description of this tree, now known as Bursera Delpe- 
chiana, is reprinted from the French journal above-named, into 
the ‘ Pharmaceutical Journal’ of London, 14th August, 1887, 
p. 182, with additional notes by Mr. Holmes, the present Curator 
of the Society’s Museum. 

It belongs to a set of species peculiar to Mexico, including 
B. Aloexylon, Engl., and B. penicillata, Engl. The tree is of 
medium height. 

According to Delpech the trees are felled by the native Indians 


LIGN-ALOES. : 289 


in a reckless manner, so that they have almost entirely disappeared 
from Cuantla Morelos, where they formerly abounded. He states 
that old trunks afford as much as 10 or 12 per cent. of oil by dis- 
tillation with steam, costing 20 to 25 francs per kilogram; an 
inferior oil prepared by the natives being sold at a lower price. 
The structure of the wood presents the following characters:— “ The 
fibres are of medium length, with the walls only slightly thickened; 
each is divided transversely by numerous thin walls constituting a 
kind of ligneous parenchyma, of which the whole wood is formed. 
On transverse section the fibres are seen to be all of equal thick- 
ness, so that it is not easy to distinguish the zones of growth of 
the wood. The vessels are of large size, with numerous transverse 
trabeculz, which on longitudinal section are seen to give a moni- 
liform appearance to the vessels; they are dotted all over, the 
dots being surrounded with areole. The medullary rays are thin, 
and have two to four courses of cells in thickness. It is chiefly 
im the fibres and medullary rays that the nearly solid odorous 
substance occurs. It is of a yellowish resinoid aspect under the 
microscope, and fills them either wholly or partially. All the 
fibres, however, do not contain it, and it is most abundant where 
the wood is streaked with dark veins. This matter is soluble in 
alcohol, so that the wood treated with spirit becomes transparent 
under the microscope.” 

In the early notice of this wood by Collins, above referred to, 
it is stated that the wood, “and even the twigs, are rich in essential 
oil ;” but in Poisson’s recent paper, here abstracted, he continues 
to say that “in the green and healthy state the wood presents the 
same appearance ”’ (under the microscope) as above detailed, but 
“ without any trace of oil, although at the same time the oil may 
be perceived in the fruits and bark by rubbing them.” In Leon 
Marchand’s memoir on the “ Organization of the Burseriaceex,” a 
somewhat similar occurrence is mentioned. The resinous and 
perfumed matter of Balsamodendron Myrrha, B. Africanum, and 
Protium obtustfolium is localized in the pith of the young branches 
to some degree, but is abundant in the bark and pericarp of the 
fruits of these plants. 

This oil of Lign-aloe has been examined by Verneuil and 
Poisson. Their experiments show that the wood cut mto shavings 
readily yields the oil by distillation with steam, 7 to 9 per cent. 
being thus obtained. Being dried over calcium chloride it distils 

U 


290 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


almost entirely between 189° and 192°, a small quantity of a much 
less volatile and resinous body remaining in the still. These 
authorities describe the oil as “an oxygenated body having the 
formula 2(C,,H,;)5H,0, this formula answering to that of a hydrate 
of terebenthene or of an isomer. The oil slowly absorbs oxygen 
and becomes resinified. It does not combine with sodium bisul- 
phite. The red-brown coloration which it takes under concen- 
trated sulphuric acid is analogous to that which turpentine pro- 
duces with the same acid.” The odour of the oil is likened by 
Poisson to a mixture of lemon and jasmin, but by others it is 
thought to resemble bergamot. 

The odoriferous constituent of oil of Mexican Lign-aloe was 
discovered by Semmler* and termed Linalool. This has recently 
been isolated by Messrs. Schimmel, who find that it is the prin- 
cipal constituent of the oil, and is the sole bearer of the most 
delicate odour of the latter which is so valued in perfumery. It 
is described as an almost colourless liquid, very soluble in alcohol, 
of sp. gr. 0°878 at 15° C.; boiling-poimt between 197° and 
198° C.; optical rotation +2. 

The acetic ester of linalool constitutes about 40 per cent. of oil 
of bergamot, so it is not surprising that the odour of Lign-aloe 
has been thought to resemble that of bergamot. Lign-aloe oil 
also contains a small quantity of Geraniol. 

It is difficult to say whether other species of Bursera yield this 
oilor not. Poisson suggests that it is probably obtained also from 
Bursera Aloexylon, Engl. (Elaphrium Aloexylon, Schiede). 

The new Mexican Pharmacopeia (1884), p. 75, also gives 
Amyris linaloe, La Liave, which is a synonym of Bursera Aloexylon, 
Engl., as the source of the oil. Schlechtendal, however, in ‘ Lin- 
nea’ (1843), xvi. p. 303, remarks that this species has a fennel- 
like odour. 

Several other species of Bursera grow in the same district as 
B. Delpechiana, including B. bicolor, Engl., B. Schiedeana, Eng)., 
and B. jorullensis, Engl., but nothing appears to be known about 
the oil of these trees. Schlechtendal mentions (loc. cit.) that Ela- 
phrium glabrifolium (Bursera penicillata, Engl.) has a strong 
aromatic odour, and that Amyris ventricosa (Bursera fagaroides, 
Engl., var.) has an odour of caraways. 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. 1891, xxiv. p. 207. 


LIGN-ALOES. 291 


The Mexican species of the genus appear to be very numerous, 
and require further examination as to their economic products. 


GUIANA AND BraAzItiIAN LIGN-ALOE. 


An “ oilof Lign-aloes ” has also been produced in Cayenne from 
another plant belonging to the Burseriacz, viz., the Icica altissima, 
Aublet* (Amyris altissima, Willd.t). The Icica is a genus of 
Amyridacez, or Burseriacez, found chiefly in the tropics of the 
Western hemisphere; only two or three of the twenty species 
occurring in the Eastern. In the forests of Guiana the Icica 
altissima attains a height of 100 feet. The odour of the wood is 
compared to that of rose and citron, and on this account it 1s 
used for the inside fittings of houses, book-cases, etc. There are 
two varieties of the tree, called in the French colony “‘ Cedre 
Blane” and ‘ Cédre rouge.” The wood is also known as “ Bois 
de Rose femelle,” also “ Licari Kanali.” An examination made 
of the oil by Morin in 1881} seems to indicate its identity with 
the main constituent of oil of bergamot, and its close affinity to 
oil of Mexican Lign-aloe above described. When freed from a 
small quantity of water that it usually contains, it has a density 
of 0°868 at 15° C., boils at 198° C. under a pressure of 775 mm., 
and is optically levogyre. Its composition is C,)H,,O, and it is 
soluble in alcohol and ether. (This alcohol and its acetic ester form 
the principal constituents of oil of lavender.) 

The balsam obtained from the trunks of many of the species of 
Icica is highly odoriferous, and is commonly used as a perfume 
in South America. That of J. heptaphylla, Aublet§, a native of 
the woods of Guiana, is called “Varbre dencens.” It is the 
Amyris ambrosiaca of Willdenow||. It is also called Hyawa in 
Guinea. The fruit of this tree contains four stones wrapped up 
in a viscid pulp which has a balsamic smell and taste, hardens 
into a grey resin, and is used to burn as a perfume. The whole 
tree is very sweet scented and exudes a very odorous, clear balsam 
from the wounded trunk or branches which is used in houses and 
churches as incense. This tree is very abundant on the banks of 
the Maroni River, and is also found plentifully along the Itoori- 


* Guian. i. tab. 132. + Spec. ii. p. 336. 
t Comptes Rendus, xcii. p. 998. 
§ Guian. i. p. 387, tab. 180. || Spec. ii. p. 335, 


u2 


292 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


bisci Creek of the Essequibo River, in loose, sandy soil ; its wood 
is little used, as it decays rapidly on exposure to the weather. 
The average height of the tree is about 50 feet. The Caribbee 
name for this is “ Arouaou.”’ Another wood of strong aromatic 
scent, resembling the “ Hyawa,” also found along the Itoori-bisci 
Creek, Essequibo River, and growing plentifully in the loose, 
sandy soil, is locally called Oulu; its average height is about 
90 feet. This produces a gum resembling “ Hyawa,” but in much 
smaller quantities*. Its wood is the colour of pale cedar, and 
should be useful for drawers and shelves of wardrobes. The 
timber will square 16 to 18 inches. 

The Icica Icicariba, D.C.t, is a native of Brazil, where it is 
called “Icicariba” and “ Resina Icica.” It produces a sweet- 
scented gum which is used as incense. The Icica decandra, Aublett, 
is a native of the woods of Guiana, where it is called Chipa. It 
is the Amyris decandra of Willdenow§, and is synonymous with 
I. pentandra, Aublet ||. When the bark of this tree is wounded a 
whitish liquid flows out, which has a scent of citrons, when dry 
becoming a yellow transparent resin, which is found in small 
pieces under the bark. The resin is carried by the Caribbees to 
Cayenne, where it is employed in churches as incense. 

The balsams obtained from some of the species of [cica remain 
fluid for a considerable time, but ultimately harden, and are then 
used for burning in the churches. Some of the trees are so highly 
charged with resin that the branches can be used as torches. 

Other aromatic woods from British Guiana, derived from trees 
not botanically identified, are locally known as “ Keritee” or 
“ Kretti” from the Aroua-pia-kooroo Creek, Pomeroon River; a 
wood which is plentiful in some localities. It has a strong aro- 
matic scent, is light, and im colour and appearance resembles 
satin-wood. Its average height is 80 feet, and its timber will 
square 20 inches. The ‘‘ Yellow Cirouballi” or “ Sirua-balli,’’ 
also from the Aroua-pia-kooroo Creek of the Pomeroon River, is 
light, of bright yellow colour, and strong aromatic scent. It often 
grows to a very large size, averaging in height 60 feet, and prefers 
a sandy soil. Its bark is useful for tanning. 


* Catalogue of Exhibits from British Guiana to Paris Exhibition, 1878. 
+ Prodziu. p. 77, t Guian. i. p. 346. § Spec. ii. p. 335. 
\| Guian, i. p. 185. 


PATCHOULI. 293 


PatcHOuLi. 


Pogostemon Patchouli, Pelletier-Sautelet, Pharm. Journ. [1] 
vill. p. 574, with figure. 

Pogostemon Patchouli, var. suavis, W. J. Hooker, Hooker’s 
Journ. of Bot. and Kew Mis. 1. p. 328, tab. 11, and Hooker’s 
Flor. of Brit. Ind. iv. p. 634*. 

A labiate plant cultivated at Silhet, Penang, the Straits Settle- 
ments, Java, Island of Bourbon, and Mauritius. 

In appearance the plant much resembles a Coleus. It grows 
2 or 3 feet high, and sometimes higher ; the branches are obtusely 
4-cornered. The leaves juicy, somewhat fleshy, and covered, 
especially on the inferior surface, with a soft pallid pubescence ; 
they are opposite, petioled, broadly ovate, obtuse, at the base 
wedge-shaped and shortly attenuated; rather acutely, unequally 
duplicato-dentate, somewhat serrate, the teeth being obtusely 
serrated, green above, the under surface pallid, strong smelling , 
with innumerable small glands visible by the aid of a powerful 
lens. The leaves measure 2 to 4 inches. All the young parts 
are densely villous. The under surface of the leaf has a very 
thick rib and nerves, and largely reticulated veins. The large 
stems are round and woody, and when cut transversely show the 
pith surrounded by a thick layer of wood remarkable for the dis- 
tinct medullary rays. The imodorous flowers are minutely de- 
scribed by Pelletier-Sautelet. 

The generally accepted name, “ Pogostemon Patchoult,” was 
given by Pelletier-Sautelet{. Bentham was of opinion that this 
plant was identical with, or not really specifically distinct from, 
his Pogostemon intermedius t, of Silhet, Penang, and the opposite 
shore of the Malay Peninsula, or from P. parviflorus, of Silhet, 
Assam, and Saharunpur, or even from P. Heyneanum, Benth., 
which Drury describes as “probably merely a variety with 
larger spikes, and more drooping in habit,” and says that it 


* Also Journal de Pharmacie, 1826, xii. p. 261. Pharm. Journ. [1] iv. p. 80; 
vi. p. 482; ix. p. 382; [8] iv. p. 362; and xi. pp. 409, 813. 
_ + Mém. de la Soe. Roy. des Sciences d’Orléans, v. no. 6, 1845. Bentham in 
De C. Prodr. xii. p. 153. 

} Wall. Cat. p. 2327. 


294, ODOROGRAPHIA. 


is found wild in the Concans, also that it is probably Rheede’s 
synonym “ Cottam” *. 

Apparently there are several varieties of Patchouli. The minute 
botanical description given by Pelletier-Sautelet agrees, as regards 
the leaf-structure and habit, with the plant now cultivated com- 
mercially, and so does the description given by Sir William 
Hooker, but both of these authorities figure and describe the 
flower of the plant. The plant as cultivated on Fisher’s estate in 
province Wellesley does not flower, neither does the cultivated 
variety grown on another estate near Singapore. 


Fig. 9. 


Pogostemon Patchouli. Pogostemon Heyneanum. 
Both highly magnified. 

The Curator of the Government Museum, Perak, states, in a 
recent communication to the ‘ Journal of the Agricultural Society 
of India’, that ‘‘ Patchouli is a very shy flowerer, so much so that 
by the natives it is said never to flower, and Mr. Hardouin told 
me that though he had grown and bought it for the last thirty 
years, he had never seen or heard of such a thing as a flower.” 
Thus, it is evident that under cultivation it does not flower, but 
is propagated by cuttings; yet, in its natural state of growth, it 

* Hort. Mal. x. tab. 77; and Wallich, Plant. As. Rar. i. t. 31; D.C. Prod. 


xii. p. 153; Wight, Icon. t. 1440. 
4 Reproduced i in ‘ Kew Bulletin, June 1889, 


PATCHOULI. 


295 


must flower and drop seed, or else, by its nature and manner of 
growth, become extinct. 


Fisher mentions a flowering variety 
(see under). 


A plant introduced from Penang into the Botanic Garden at 


Fig. 10. 


oo pemenamee 1 
a, 
a 


er 


Pogostemon Patchouli. 


Calcutta did not exhibit during ten years any disposition to 
blossom. Specimens have been known to flower in the stoves at 


296 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Kew and at Orleans, but specimens received from Louis Van 
Houtte, of Ghent, and carefully grown by myself in a moist stove 
in London, never attempted to flower, although they otherwise 
throve exceedingly and agreed in structure of leaf and stalk with 
the Kew plant, and with Hooker’s description. An impression of 
a leaf is shown in fig. 10. 

Professor Oliver, of Kew, expresses the opinion that it is 
doubtful whether this particular form, which is the economic 
plant of commerce, is indigenous to any part of India, and Mr. 
Thiselton Dyer thinks that it may ultimately prove to have 
originated in China *. 

It is grown and much esteemed by the aboriginal tribes of 
Perak and Pallang, and is found at an altitude of nearly 5000 feet 
amongst the Sakais of the mountains, at the source of the Pallang 
River, far away from any Malayan villages, also among the same 
people in the Bernam, Batang-Padang, and Kinta Districts of 
Perak, and among the Semangs in Upper Perak and Selama. 

The Sekais of Batang-Padang call the plant Boon kalif; and as 
this is not a corruption or derivation of the Malayan name, it 
indicates its being known to them prior to their coming in 
contact with the Malays, and points to the conclusion that it is 
indigenous. The Malay name of the plant at Perak is Poko nilam, 
and the leaves Doun Nilam, which slightly differs from the Malay 
name commonly applied to it in Province Wellesley. Mr. Fisher 
informs me that there are three sorts of the plant, viz. :—Dhelum 
Utan or Delam outan, or Wild Patchouli; Dhelum Boonga, a 
flowering variety ; and Dhelum Wangi, which he cultivates, the 
leaves of which are called Doun Dhelum Wangi. The word Doun 
in Malay means “leaf;” Dhelum is either mis-spelt from the 
pronunciation, or is a Javanese word meaning the same thing, a 
“ mattress,” the Malay and Javanese word for which is Tildm; 
Wangi means “fragrant” and “healthy.” The three words 
jointly mean that the natives stuff their beds and pillows with the 
fragrant herb, and believe in its health-giving properties. The 
word Utan means ‘jungle,’ “forest,” “ wild,” and “ unculti- 
vated,”’ consequently the Tildm or Dhelum outan is the uncultivated 
plant. Bonga or Boonga in Malay means “ flowering,” and was 
also applied by Rumphius to the Cananga tree; he calls it 
“* Bonga Cananga.” 


* Kew Bulletin, March 1888, p. 75. 


PATCHOULI. 297 


Mr. Fisher kindly supplied to me the following details of the 
method of cultivating the plant and preparing the oil as practised 
on his estate. 

The variety selected for cultivation is known locally as “‘ Dhelum 
Wangi,” which was originally obtained from a small island south 
of Penang, called Rhio (probably one of the Dindings). The 
soil most suitable is a rather stiff clay, contaiming only a small 
percentage of silica. Land of this description is found near the 
coast (containing traces of marine deposits), and is planted in 
rows 4 or 5 feet apart. The plants are propagated by cuttings 
struck in the open air, which, until rooted, are sheltered from the 
sun by pieces of cocoa-nut shell. The harvest is made in dry 
weather, and when the sun has drawn up the dew from the leaves ; 
the tops and green parts of the plant are taken off, rejecting all 
yellow and decayed leaves, and as much as possible the woody 
stems. The selected parts are then dried in the shade, under 
large sheds (as the sun would draw out the perfume), and to 
ensure evenness in drying they are spread on bamboo racks, 
allowing the air to penetrate from beneath. During this process 
they are frequently turned over, and when so far dried as to leave 
just sufficient moisture to permit of a slight fermentation they are 
piled in heaps and allowed to heat gently; after this they are 
again spread out and dried—but not to absolute dryness—and are 
immediately distilled. The addition of about 25 per cent. of the 
wild herb Dhelum outan is said to increase the fragrance of the 
distillate. The distillation is effected by passing steam, generated 
in a boiler apart, through the leaves in the stills. The pressure 
of steam is not allowed to rise above 20 lbs., the yield under 
these conditions being about +} oz. per lb. of leaves; by high- 
pressure steam the yield would be a little increased, but rank in 
quality. The stills are sometimes jacketed, and, by passing a 
separate current of steam into the jacket, condensation in the 
body of the still at the commencement of the operation is avoided. 
This oil, called “ Singapore” oil, is sent to London in cases of 
12 bottles, containing 22 ounces in each bottle, labelled with the 
manufacturer’s name, and guaranteed by him to be pure. 

The oil distilled from leaves that have been baled has rather an 
inferior odour, and hias not the peculiar olive-brown tint of the 
Singapore or Penang oils. 

It will be observed that Mr. Fisher adds to the still 25 per cent. 


298 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


of uncultivated plant “outan.” On my enquiring of Mr. Wray, of 
the Government Museum at Perak, a confirmation of the meaning 
of the Malay word “ outan”’ as applied to this plant, he replied 
that it means “ jungle, or forest”? (consequently ‘‘ wild or uncul- 
tivated”), but adds that at Perak “the plant is not known in a 
wild state.’ From this I infer that the natives so value the plant 
that they always cultivate it, even if it be indigenous, as we should 
treat any useful plant indigenous to England ; the only alternative 
idea is, that it is not indigenous, but a possible introduction from 
China, and probably! from the neighbourhood of Canton. Dr. 
Wallich, in the ‘ Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society 
of Calcutta,’ 1835, says :—“ Baron Hiigel informs me that he has 
found a plant growing wild at Canton, which closely resembles 
that from Penang, cultivated in this Garden” (referring to the 
Patchouli). 

The information furnished by Mr. Wray respecting the cultiva- 
tion of the plant at Perak has been published in the ‘ Journal of 
the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India,’ and reprinted 
in the ‘ Kew Bulletin’ of June 1889, as follows :-— 

“The cultivation of patchouli is carried on almost exclusively 
by the Chinese in the Straits Settlements. They do not grow it 
on a large scale, but a man will plant a patch of perhaps } an acre 
or an acre at atime. The land is trenched and thrown up into 
long beds either 4 feet or 18 inches wide. The former will take 2 
rows of plants and the latter only 1. The plants are put 2 feet 
apart along the rows. The planting should be done in the wet 
season, and the cuttings, which are about a foot long, require 
careful shading with leaves until rooted, or they wither and die, 
the plant being delicate, and very susceptible to the heat of the 
sun. 

“The first cutting of the crop is made in about 6 months after 
planting, by which time the plants will have reached a height of 2 
or 3 feet, and two other cuttings are made from the same plants at 
intervals of about 6 months. At the end of this time the old roots 
are dug up, the land re-trenched and manured, and fresh cuttings 
planted. Both flat and bill lands are suitable to its cultivation, 
and it seems to flourish best under slight shade, but probably the 
production of oil is less in that grown under shade than in 
that grown out in the sun, though the yield of leaf would be 
greater. It is often planted on new land between coffee, nut- 


PATCHOULI. 299 


megs, and other permanent crops, and it pays all the expenses of 
clearing and planting, leaving the permanent crops as clear 
profit. 

*‘Of natural enemies, one was described to me as a beetle ; but, 
as the young leaves which it is said to attack are dwarfed and de- 
formed rather than eaten, I am inclined to think it isa bug. The 
older leaves are very much attacked by some insects, probably 
caterpillars and grasshoppers. 

“The plants are cut down near the ground when they have 
reached a sufficient size, one stalk only being left to each bush. 
The patchouli is then laid out in the sun to dry in the day-time, 
and put under cover at night, and on the approach of rain. The 
time required to dry it varies with the weather, taking from 4 
days to a week. When thoroughly dry it is done up into bales 
and sold either to dealers in the leaves or to distillers. In this 
state it fetches about $8 per pikul of 1333 lbs. The dealers cut it 
up and separate a great quantity of the larger stalks, and, according 
to its freedom from these, it is classed as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quality. 
The best consists of leaves only and is valued at $30 to $32 per 
pikul; but, owing to the labour involved, this quality hardly pays 
to prepare. The 2nd quality is composed of leaves and young 
shoots, with little of the heavier stalk, and ranges in price from $17 
to $20 per pikul. The 3rd quality contains less leaf and more 
stalk, and fetches about $14 per pikul. The best quality of all 
would be produced by picking from the plants the leaves and tops 
of the young shoots, and drying these in the shade, but it is 
doubtful if it would pay. Prepared in this way, 30 lbs. of green 
leaves produce 10 lbs. of dried patchouli. The percentage of 
essential oil in shade-dried leaves is higher than in those which 
have been exposed for many hours to the full heat of a tropical 
sun, which in this latitude often goes over 120° F. 

‘In distilling the oil, the dried patchouli is put into a large copper 
cylinder fitted with a perforated false bottom, and mounted on 
trunnions. ‘Through one of these steam enters from a boiler, and 
is conducted by a tube beneath the false bottom. The remaining 
trunnion is also hollow, and the steam, after passing through the 
leaves, passes out by it and into a worm immersed in a tub of 
water in the ordinary way. The pressure of steam employed is 
about 10 lbs. per square inch, but it varies with the size of the 
worm and the temperature of the water used to cool it. 


300 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


“ One pikul of the dried plant just as it is cut yields from 24 to 
30 ounces of oil, and a sample free from the heavier stalks yields 
about double that amount. (Other records show the yield to 
vary between 15 and 4 per cent.) In an ordinary still (boiling 
the plant with water) not more than one half of the oil can be 
extracted, the temperature not being high enough to volatilize the 
whole of it *. 

“The green leaves yield little oil, therefore it is necessary that 
they be dried before distillation. 

“The oil is of two varieties, the one being sage-green, and the 
other the colour of medium-coloured sherry. It is thought that 
the green oil is produced from young leaves, and the golden-brown 
from old leaves ; but this is doubtful. Soil and shade may have 
more to do with the colour than the age of the leaves. Sometimes 
one colour is in greater demand than the other, but the prices are 
the same for both. The golden-brown oil has a sp. gr. of ‘9580 
at 85° F., and the green oil ‘9578 at the same temperature. 

“The spectrum exhibited by the golden-brown oil is not crossed 
by any absorption bands. The red, yellow, and green light, as 
far as the 4 line, are transmitted with full mtensity ; but the blue- 
green from J to F is much absorbed, and beyond the latter line all 
is complete darkness. The limits of this spectrum in wave-lengths 
are 7140 to 4165, the oil being contained in a tube ‘6 inch in 
diameter, both daylight and lamplight being used with the same 
results. 

“The green oil gives a spectrum of full intensity from the ¢ line 
to midway between 6 and F lines, from which point it shades off 
gradually and disappears a little before the / line is reached. At 
the red end it extends beyond the ¢ line, but with reduced inten- 
sity as far as to between the A and a lines. In wave-lengths the 
limits of this spectrum are 7390 to 4130 in daylight. Lamplight 
gave a greater extension towards the red end, but much less in the 
violet.” 

The following information respecting the cultivation of patchouli 


* This suggests that a finer quality could be separated by first distilling with 
water at ordinary pressure, and then extracting a second quality,—the portion 
with a higher boiling-point,—by passing steam of a certain pressure throagh the 
mass, and by carefully regulating the steam a third quality could be obtained, 
and the plant totally exhausted of oil. Operating in this way on leaves alone the 
first fraction of low boiling-point might be of very superior quality. 


PATCHOULI. 301 


at Penang is contained in a letter addressed by Mr. C. Curtis, 
Assistant Superintendent in the Forest Department of the Straits 
Settlements, to the Superintendent of the Royal Gardens, Kew, 
dated February 1888 :—“. . . . It may interest you to know the 
result of an experiment in cultivating and harvesting one-twentieth 
of an acre of patchouli in the Experimental Nursery, Penang. 
Cuttings were put in in January, and the last week in February 
one twentieth of an acre was planted three feet apart. The soil of 
the nursery is poor, and the only manure used was wood-ashes. 

“On July 21st the whole was cut, and weighed in a green state 
449 lbs. After being dried in a cool airy shed for 10 days the 
weight was 106 lbs. The leaves were then separated from the 
stems, and each weighed separately, the result being, ‘ good leaf,’ 
69 lbs.; ‘refuse,’ 37 lbs. Samples were submitted to London 
Brokers. One valued it at 8d. to 10d. per lb., the other at 10d. 
to 11d. 

“The same patch was cut again the first week in January of 
this year, and the yield and results were approximately the same as 
in July; so there is no doubt an acre will yield considerably over 
one ton of ‘good leaf’ per annum. No special skill is required 
in its cultivation. I am by no means sure that the system of 
cutting the whole patch at once is the best system possible. I 
think if only one side of the rows were cut first, and the remainder 
after they had commenced to grow again, there would be less 
exposure of the roots to the sun, and consequently less check to 
the growth. 

“The principal point to be observed in drying is to dry slowly, 
and not to the point of crispness, otherwise the leaves get broken 
to powder, and are of less value ”’*. 


Mr. Wray, in the report above referred to, says that large 
quantities of Ocimum Basilicum, L., var. pilosum, Benth., known 
by the Malay name, Ruku, are often used as an adulterant to the 
dried leaves ; and he was told by Hardouin (the principal distiller 
of patchouli oil in the States) that recently a Chinaman bought 


* This observation of course applies to the case when the leaves are to be 
baled for export ; as when they are to be distilled on the spot they are not dried 
so much as when baled. 


392 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


the whole of the Ruku growing wild in a cocoa-nut plantation in 
Province Wellesley, and 700 pikuls of this dried herb were collected 
and taken to Penang, to be used for the adulteration of patchouli. 
Therefore it is always preferable to a local distiller to buy a crop 
just as it is cut, as then it is easy to see if it is adulterated or not, 
but if the leaves are bought it is very tedious to detect the imposi- 
tion. The Ruku leaves are rather whiter, and the stalks smaller 
and rounder. Seed-vessels are also often mixed with them. The 
smell of the two herbs is quite different, but if the sample has been 
baled for some time this would be imperceptible, except as com- 
municating a twang to the general odour of the sample. 

Another adulteration is the Urena lobata, L., var. sinuata. It 
is Called Perpulut by the Malays. It is not cultivated, but it is a 
very common weed all over the Straits Settlements, and is to be 
had in any quantity for the trouble of collecting it. It is found 
in considerable quantity in cocoa-nut plantations and waste places 
near the coast. The leaves when dried are much like those of the 
herb it is used to adulterate, but, unlike it, are scentless. People 
who gather it obtain $3 per pikul, dried, for mixing with the 
patchouli. 

A very complete examination of the leaves of patchouli as found 
in commerce has been made by Dr. Heimrich Paschkis, giving 
microscopic representations of sections of the true plant, also of 
the leaves used as adulterants *. He says :—“ Even ina superficial 
examination of the dried leaves considerable differences are observed 
in the leaf-balls taken from the same sample. Some are of a 
light wood-brown colour, others dark red-brown, and others 
greenish coloured ; some have a sparse, others an abundant and 
even velvety pubescence. These differences become still more 
clearly apparent when the balls are soaked for a time in water, and 
the leaves then carefully spread out and smoothed. 

“The true leaf is broad, ovate, coarsely crenate, dentate, 10 centi- 
métres long, diminishing at the base into a long petiole, light 
brown, moderately thin, not very abundantly hairy on both sides, 
with one principal nerve and the secondary nerves forming curves 
running towards the margin. The microscopic examination reveals 
in the epidermis of the upper and under sides, deeply indented, 
mostly elongated flat cells, 0-063 millim. long, and 0-030 millim. 


* Zeitschrift of the Austrian Pharm. Assoc. Republished in Pharm. Journ. 
[3] xi. p. 813. 


PATCHOULI. 303 


broad ; among them, in greater number below and fewer above, 
are stomata, with a single contiguous cell. The epidermal cells 
of the upper side are coarsely papillose, here and there brownish- 


Fig. 11. 


1. Portion of a section of leaf. 
a. Papillose epidermis cells. 
6. Large gland. 
. Large gland from the surface. 
. Small gland. 
. Hair. 


He CO bo 


coloured. The cuticle is thick. The mesophyll consists of a row 
of palisade cells, below which is a layer of longitudinally elongated 
cells. Here and there are rosettes of oxalate of lime. The hairs 


304 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


are simple throughout, several-celled (up to 6) ; the cuticle of the 
hairs is warty, which is especially very clearly perceptible in the 
younger hairs. On the upper and under sides are numerous 
glands, one kind bearing a small head upon a short stalk, the other 
(large glands 0:048 millim. thick) imbedded deeply in the epidermis 
and stalkless. In the former are drops of a greenish-yellow vola- 
tile oil, which occurs also in the hairs, as well as in the cells of the 
epidermis and the mesophyll. In the mesophyll, in the wall of 
the epidermis cells, and in the hairs, is a tannin substance, giving 
a green colour with iron.” 

Seven forms of leaves used to mix with the true leaves are 
described and figured by Dr. Paschkis. Observed microscopically, 
all of them differ from the true leaf in the characteristic structure 
of the hairs, cells, glands, ete.; and in the general form of the 
leaf six of them differ entirely in shape from the true leaf; they 
also differ in their system of venation, which is radiate from the 
base of the leaf, and not branching from one main central nerve. 
Amongst the leaves used as adulterants, the one most nearly 
approaching in shape and microscopic structure is the Plectranthus 
fruticosus (frequently grown in England for window decoration) 
but it is easily recognizable. Some of the other sophisticated 
leaves have been identified, such as Lavatera olbia and Pavonia 
Weldenii, besides the Urena lobata, var. sinuata, and Ocimum 
Basilicum, var. pilosum, already referred to. The mixing of these 
leaves is in many cases carried to such an extent as to constitute 
80 per cent. of the drug as found in bales. Dr. Paschkis states 
in his pamphlet that of the many samples examined by him only 
one was found to consist of the true leaf alone. 

In some of the bales examined in London a quantity of earth 
and mud has sometimes been found attached to the leaves, and of 
course adding to the weight. 

Under the name of Puchdé Pat, the leaves are found in every 
Bazaar throughout Hindustan, and the Arabs use it in great quan- 
tities for stuffing mattresses and pillows. 

An examination of oil of patchouli was made by Dr. Gladstone 
in 1864*, on a sample which he belived to be quite genuine, ob- 
tained from Dr. Piesse; also on a sample obtained from India. 
‘Both specimens were brownish yellow and slightly viscid. They 
commenced to boil at 257° C., at which temperature nearly all 


* Journ. Chem. Soc. [2] iii. 


PATCHOULI. 305 


distilled over *, and was found to be a hydrocarbon analogous to 
that from cubebs; but towards the end the thermometer rose 
much higher and the distillate became of a deep blue colour, owing 
to the presence of an intensely blue matter termed ‘azulene’ or 
‘cerulein,’ which is also found in the oils of Calamus aromaticus, 
Achillea Millefolium, Matricaria Chamomilla, Artemisia Absinthum, 
and in a small quantity in the oils of Bergamot and Ceylon 
Lemon-grass.” The analysis of this remarkable fluid shows its 
formula to be C,,H,,;0. Its boiling-point is 576° F., and its sp. 
gr. ‘910. There are but few liquids which give a coloured vapour 
when boiled, but azulene is one of them. Its vapour is blue. It 
is soluble in alcohol, fatty and volatile oils, and many other liquids, 
to which it imparts its colour, but not in water. It is very per- 
manent, and bears a temperature of 700° to 800° F. in a sealed 
tube without alteration, and none but the strongest acids aided by 
heat will break up its constitution. It is most intensely blue, 
appearivg almost black when in a concentrated state. It is not 
decolorized by sulphurous acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, or bromine- 
water. It does not attach itself to animal charcoal, nor does it 
dye wool, cotton, or silk. It has been found to exist to the 
extent of 6 per cent. in pure oil of patchouli. 

Oil of patchouli contains a camphor called “ Patchouli camphor.” 
It crystallizes in regular hexagonal prisms, melts at 59° C., and 
boils at 296° C. Its composition is C);H,,O. It was investigated 
by Gal + and by Montgolfier ¢. It is considered to be an isomer 
of camphor of cubebs and of concrete oil of cedar. The conditions 
most favourable to the formation or deposition of this body are 
little known, but it has been remarked that it forms or separates 
more rapidly in samples of oil which have been desiccated by 
chloride of calcium. This camphor not having any commercial 
value, its formation is undesirable, but as it results from a simple 
molecular change, it may be difficult to prevent it; however, it is 
possible that the presence of a small quantity of water in the oil 
may at least retard it. A sample of oil filled up to the cork, 


* This seems strange, considering the way in which it can be fractionated 
when distilling directly from the leaf, and leads to the conclusion that although 
his samples may not have been adulterated, they were not intact, and that the 
finer and most volatile portion may have been abstracted from them. 

+ Bull. Soc. Chim, 1869, p. 304. 

t~ Comptes Rendus, 1877, p. 88. 


306 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


tightly corked, and kept in a cool dark place did not deposit a 
trace of it in 17 years. This was pure Singapore oil. By the 
action of hydrochloric acid or acetic anhydride this camphor is 
decomposed into water and patchoulene, C,;H.2,, which boils at 252° 
a eat ORig 

Commercial oil of patchouli is often adulterated to the extent 
of 60 per cent. with cheaper oils, generally those of cedar and 
cubebs. It is remarkable that these have been selected, as the 
camphor of patchouli is isomeric with that of cubebs and with the 
concrete oil of cedar fF. 

Gladstone observed { the rotatory power of ‘ Penang” oil of 
patchouli (determined for a column of liquid 10 inches long) to be 
—120°; the same for Cedar-wood oil +3; the hydrocarbon of 
patchouli oil, patchoulene, —90°, and oil of cubebs + 55°. 

The same authority gives the sp. gr. of three patchouli oils 
as follows :—“ Indian,” ‘9554; “ Penang,” °9592; “ French,” 
10119 (!), all taken at 60° F.; and for their hydrocarbons :— 


“Indian.” Sp. gr. at 20° C. °9211. Boiling-point 254° C. 
“ Penang.” 53 se "9278. a ote. 
“* French,” 5 a De 5 260° C. 


A flowering variety is known to grow on one of the islands near 
Sourabaya, south-east of Sumatra; its leaf is odorous, though not 
so broadly ovate as the cultivated plant, and with shorter petioles ; 
this is grown simply for its flowers, which are sold in large 
quantities for a medicinal purpose in the various markets of Java, 
and fetch a high price. All labiate plants, especially the Coleus 
(which the Patchouli seems to belong to, or be nearly akin to) and 
the Mints, are apt to take a character and habit not true to the 
original plant when transplanted to a climate or soil other than is 
natural to them; and under such conditions the development of 
the odorous principle is as much changed as is the development 
of medicinal properties in many drug-yielding plants. 

A very similar plant to the cultivated one, and of very much 
the same odour, grows in the lofty range of hills northwards of 
Gowahatti in Assam (Hooker’s Journ. of Botany, i. p. 22), and, 


* Bull. Soc. Chim. xxviii. p. 414. 
+ Comptes Rendus, 8 Jan. 1877. 
{ Journ, Chem. Soe. xvii. p. 3. 


PATCHOULI. 307 


according to Mr. Thiselton Dyer (‘ Kew Bulletin,’ March 1888, 
p. 74), there appears to be evidence of the existence of a plant with 
a patchouli odour, native to Khasia and Assam, which is widely 
different from any form of Pogostemon Patchouli, although it may 
have the true odour and be of commercial use in India. It is 
mentioned in the ‘Flora of British India,’ iv. p. 624, as “a 
doubtful Plectranthus (Plectranthus Patchouli, Clarke).” He 
adds :—“ There is no inherent scientific improbability in widely 
different plants elaborating the same essential oil.” 

Other varieties of Plectranthus are much esteemed in India for 
their perfume, as the P. aromaticus, Roxb. (Flor. Ind. 1. p. 466), 
synonymous with Coleus aromaticus *, figured by Rumphius +, and 
in the ‘ Botanical Register,’ tab. 1520. It is mentioned by Royle 
in his ‘Illustrations of the Botany of the Himalayas,’ i. p. 303. 
The vernacular name in India for this plant is Pathor chur—con- 
sequently considered distinct from the patchouli, which is equally 
widely known as Pucha-Pat. 

Amongst other plants to which the patcbouli plant is described 
as having an affinity is, according to Dr. Wallich {, the Marruéium 
odoratissimum Betonice folio of Burmann’s ‘Thesaurus Zey- 
lanicus.’ 

Its odour has likewise been compared with that of Gendarussa 
vulgaris, Nees. .This is described by Wallich, Plant. As. Rar. ii. 
p. 104; DeCandolle, Prod. xi. p. 410; Wight, Icones, tab. 468 ; 
Rheede, Hortus Malabaricus, ix. tab. 42 ; and is also figured in the 
Botanical Register, tab. 635. It is the Gandharusa of Rumphius, 
Amboinensis, iv. p. 70, tab. 28, and the Justicia Gendarussa, Linn. 
Sp. Pl. ed. Willd. i. p. 87, under which name it is described by 
Dr. Roxburgh, Flor. Ind. i. p. 129, as a handsome shrub indige- 
nous on the Malay Islands, common in gardens in India, growing 
readily from cuttings, and flowering during the wet season. The 
bark of the young parts is generally dark purple and very smooth, 
but in some varieties green. The branches are numerous and 
straggling except when cut back. The leaves are opposite, short- 
petioled and lanceolate, frequently a little scolloped, smooth; the 
nerve and veins dark purple, from 3 to 6 inches long, and from 
half an inch to an inch broad; spikes terminal, erect, verticilled. 


* Flor. Brit. Ind. iv. p. 625. 

ja Auman vate Zante: 

{ Transactions of the Med. and Phys. Soc. of Calcutta. 
x2 


308 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Anthers double, the lower ones have a spur-like process projecting 
downwards and outwards. 

Origanum Indicum is only another name for Pogostemon Heyne- 
anum of Benth., figured in Wallich’s Plant. As. Rar. 1. p. 31, 
Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus, x. tab. 77, and Wight’s Icones, 
tab. 1440. This plant, as above observed, is probably a mere 
variety of the true Patchouli, with longer spikes. 


Inp1an GRASS-OILS. 


Of the genus of Grasses belonging to the tribe Andropogone 
about 25 species are met with in India; of these, four or five are 
of commercial interest as yielding the oils known as “ Grass-oils.”’ 

The greatest confusion has existed in the identification of the 
plants yielding the essential oils from this genus, and much 
uncertainty yet appears to exist in Europe in the assignment of 
each oil to its proper botanical source; that is to say, in the 
identification of nearly allied plants which afford distinct oils 
known commercially under various names in London, Paris, and 
the East. The trade names in London of the four principal oils, 
having such a variety of equivalents in the vernacular of Egypt, 
Turkey, and India, and the plants which these oils are derived 
from being known in the various provinces of India under such 
a number of local dialects, it is not surprising that errors creep 
into the literature of a subject so difficult as that of the identifi- 
cation of the plants which yield the four oils known on the 
London Market as “ Citronella,’ Lemon-grass, Ginger-grass, and 
Vetiver. Had I not known personally one of the largest growers 
and distillers in the East, who was as well acquainted with the Malay 
and Indian dialects as he was with the cultivation of the plants, 
I might have been led by text-books to believe in the existence 
of a great number of plants yielding various oils under many 
names. ‘The European and Vernacular names are very numerous, 
but the oils are four (unless rectified or adulterated oils be 
counted), and the plants yielding them are four (unless a 
sub-genus, or varieties somewhat modified by cultivation be 
counted). 

As regards the Indian botanical nomenclature, there is great 
difficulty experienced by Europeans in ascertaining from the 


VETIVER. 309 


natives the correct vernacular names of plants, and even greater 
difficulty in expressing by any combination of the Roman 
characters, or by accentuation, the guttural pronunciation, 
peculiar aspiration, etc., of Arabic, Sanscrit, Malay, or of the 
lauguages and dialects of the East—possibly they might be more 
easily rendered in German than in English, as the German 
language has sounds more approximate thereto. 

A museum specimen of essential oil should be distilled by the 
exhibitor himself, as all Oriental oils are adulterated ; it should be 
accompanied by a dried specimen of the plant taken when in 
flower, a sample of the root, and a drawing of the living plant, 
also a description of the aspect of the place where found and its 
exact local name written in Oriental character, then—in London, 
we know it. However, to summarize on the evidence at present 
available, the four commercial oils derived from the four plants 
are Ginger-grass, Citronella, Lemon-grass, and Vetiver. The 
three first are already described. 

Vetiver or Cus-Cus.—This is the root of the Andropogon muri- 
catus, Retz., syn. A. sguarrosus, Linn., Vetiveria odorata, Virey, 
Anatherum muricatum, Retz., Raphis muricatus, Nees, Phalaris 
zizanoides, Linn, ‘There is a verse in the Sanskrit language 
composed of nine words arranged in two lines purporting to be 
the* nine names.under which the plant was known; doubtless they 
were poetical names, as they are not to be found in the extensive 
list of local names recently enumerated by Watts t. The roots 
are universally known in Bengal as Chas or Khas-Khas, and in 
Bombay Khasa-Khasa. It is a perennial tufted grass, very con- 
spicuous, tall, and erect. It is very common on every part of the 
coast of Coromandel, Mysore, also in Bengal and Burma, where 
it meets with a low, moist, rich soil, especially on the banks of 
water-courses. It covers large tracts of waste land in Cuttack. 
It inhabits the plains of the Punjab and North-west Provinces, 
and ascends into Kumaon 1000 or 2000 feet in altitude {. It is 
also found in Réunion, Mauritius and the Plilippine Islands. With 
the exception of lemon-grass it is the only species of the grasses 
under discussion occurring in the New World, being abundant in 


* Asiatic Researches,’ iv. p. 306. 
+ Dict. Economic products of India, 1889. 
{ Duthie’s ‘ Grasses of the North-west Provinces,’ 1883, 


310 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


the Antilles, Porto Rico, Jamaica, Brazil, ete. It was observed by 
Virey * that the word Ver in the Hindu language means “a long 
creeping root.” The roots of this grass closely resemble in 
appearance the roots of the “ Chien-dent-a-balai”’ (4. Ischemum, 
Linn.), roots which are used for making carpet-brooms—being 
long, thin, and creeping, with a bark of a pale yellowish brown or 
light tawny colour. The roots extend in a fibrous tangled mass. 
In the ‘Gazetteer of the Central Provinces’ this grass is described 
as “a nuisance to the agriculturalists, as it grows on the rich soil 
and is very difficult to eradicate ;”’ but the ‘Oudh Gazetteer,’ iil. 
p. 176, says “it is generally strictly preserved, as it takes time to 
spread, and proprietors are averse to its being dug up for Khas.” 
This seems to indicate a different value being put on it in the 
different localities within the wide range of its growth. This 
plant is alluded to on some copper-plate inscriptions discovered 
near Etawah, south-west of Agra, dated a.p. 1103 and 1174, as 
being one of the articles of commerce on which the Kings of 
Kananj levied taxest. The leaves are inodorous. ‘The roots 
have a strong peculiar odour, somewhat like myrrh combined 
with that of some flower of the mignonette type. This odour 
partly disappears when the root is dried, but immediately mani- 
fests itself on the application of moisture, and is retained so 
tenaciously as to be perceptible even after the root has been 
scalded cr insufficiently distiiled. The root contains a resin of 
a deep-brown colour having an acid taste and an odour like 
myrrh, a colouring-matter partly soluble in water, a free acid, 
a salt of lime, a considerable quantity of oxide of iron f, anda 
powerful volatile oil which is rather difficult to thoroughly 
extract in the ordinary way by reason of its high boiling-point 
and its association with the resin. This difficulty may be over- 
come by placing the root in a steam-jacketed still with just 
sufficient water to drench it, and allowing it to stand for a short 
time so that the water may penetrate into the tissues. Then 
by admitting steam of about 10 lbs. pressure into the jacket, 
the light oil (for there is a light oil of a lower boiling-point) 
will come over and may be collected separately, and a current 
of steam of 10 lbs. graduaity raised to 15 lbs. pressure afterwards 


* Journal de Pharmacie, xiii. p. 499. 
+ Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Aug. 1873, p. 161. 
¢ Vauquelin, ‘Annales de Chimie,’ lxxii. p. 302. 


CAMEL-GRASS. 311 


admitted into the still by a pipe at the bottom can be blown 
through the mass until oil ceases to drop into the receiver. 

Dr. Piesse in his work on Perfumes states the yield to be 10 ozs. 
per cwt., but according to Watts* the yield of 100 lbs. of root 
is only 2 ozs.; other observers have found it to vary between 0:2 
and 3°5 per cent.t The crude heavy oil is very viscid, consisting 
mainly of a liquid boiling at 280°-283°C. It does not appear 
that the light oil of vetiver is met with in England as an article 
of commerce, but it is worthy of attention on account of its 
delicate fragrance. It seems to blend well with the odours of 
orris root and cassie flowers (Acacia Farnesiana). The uses of 
Vetiver in England are confined to the distillation of the oil, 
which commands a very high price. The oil enters into the 
composition of many favourite perfumes, as ‘ Mousseline des 
Indes,” Maréchal, “ Bouquet du Roi,” ete., and it is known that 
in India the roots are woven into fans, screens to cool the 
atmosphere, ornamental baskets, etc. Dr. Irvine, in his “ Medical 
Topography of Ajmere,’’ mentions the oil in the preparation of 
sherbet. In India it enters into the composition of several cooling 
medicines. An aromatic bath is prepared by adding to a tub of 
water the following substances :—roots of A. muricatus, Pavonia 
odorata, santal-wood, and a fragrant wood called “ Padma 
Kastha ” f. 

Camel-grass.—This aromatic grass seems to be very little 
known in England by name, and its essential oil does not appear 
to be known at all. Botanically it is the Andropogon Lanigerum 
of Desfontaines. It is identical with Fanum Camelorum and 
Juncus odoratus. It has been termed Cymbopogon Laniger, and 
it partly agrees with Roxburgh’s description of A. Jwarancusa. 
It has been long known to pharmacists in the East as Herba 
Schenanthus. It is figured by Pomet as “‘Squenanthe”§. In 
Bengal it is known as ‘ Ibharankusha,” in the North-western 
Provinces (amongst other names) as “ Ganguli-ban.”” The name 
in Bombay and Arabia (for the culms of the plant, with or 
without a portion of the root) is “Izkhir”; this name, as given 

* Watts’ Dict. Chemistry, 1868, v. p. 999. 

+ “The plant is very common in the Mascarenes ; it often borders the fields 
of sugar-cane, and does not require the least care for its cultivation. Of this 
essence 400 or 500 grammes are furnished by 50 kilos of roots. . .”—Gardener’s 
Chronicle, 16 July, 1892. 

{ Hindu Mat. Med., p. 271. § Hist. des Drogues, p. 173. 


212 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


in the best lexicons, is derived from the same Arabic root which 
furnishes the derivative Zakhira, a common term in India for 
stored-up forage, etc. The name Fenum Camelorum signifies 
its use as a forage for Camels. It is a native of Arabia, growing 
plentifully in the Desert and in the hot, arid regions of Algeria. 
The Arabians call it ‘ Helsi Meccavi” and ‘‘ Idhir Mecchi.” 
It is said that in the deserts between Syria and Egypt it is the 
only grass eaten by camels. This plant has a wide distribution 
but is not cultivated. It is found growing on the lower Hima- 
layan tracts and in Thibet at an altitude of 11,000 feet, extending 
through the plains of the North-west Provinces to Sind. Rox- 
burgh says it grows in large tufts, each tuft composed of a 
number of plants adhering together by the roots. This descrip- 
tion corresponds with Pomet’s figure alluded to above. It is 
common about Kurrachee, and is used as a perfume by the 
natives. Lemery, commenting on Pomet, says that this Menum 
Camelorum is a kind of fragrant rush or grass growing plentifully 
in Arabia Felix at the foot of Mount Libanus, where it serves 
for fodder and litter for the camels. The stalk is about a foot 
high, divided into several hard stems, of the size, figure, and 
colour of barley-straw, being much smaller towards the top. The 
leaves are about half a foot long, narrow, rough, pointed, of a 
pale-green colour. The flowers growing on the top are arranged 
in double order, small, hairy, of a carnation colour, .... all 
the plant, and particularly the flower, is of a strong smell and 
bitter taste. This plant is also figured in Plukenett’s ‘ Phyto- 
graphia,’ 1691, tab. 109. fig. 1. 

The yield of oil from the fresh plant is said to be 1 per cent. 
A sample of the oil, distilled by Dr. Dymock of Bombay, has 
been examined by Messrs. Schimmel with the following result :— 
Its odour recalls that of Elemi oil; its sp. gr. is 0°915; its 
optical rotation +384°38/. It boils between 170° and 250°C., 
and contains Phellandrene. 

The Andropogon laniger has recently been discovered in British 
Baluchistan by J. H. Lace, Deputy Commissioner of Forests of 
India. In his valuable paper on the “ Vegetation of the Hurnai 
Railway Route,” recently read before the Linnean Society of 
London,* he mentions having found it covering large tracts of 
land on the lower hills. 

* Journ, Linn. Soe. xxviii. p. 293. 


HENNAH. ol3 


There are writers who frivolously waste time by worrying 
themselves and the world with their ideas about the identity of 
the “Sweet Cane” of Scripture; some fancying it to be one 
plant, some another; they refer back to Dioscorides, even to 
Jeremiah. The Ancients mixed up many plants under one 
poetical name and led us Moderns into much useless confusion 
and dispute (instance Spikenard); their writings, in languages 
not over rich in botanical terms, are misty, abrupt in expression, 
and have been mauled in translation and re-translation. Whether 
the ‘‘Sweet Cane”? was the Fwnum Camelorum or not, now 
matters little. 


HenNNAnH. 


This plant has been cultivated for ages in India, Egypt, North 
Africa, Syria, and the Levant. In the “Song of Solomon,” 
written about 1000 B.c., it is referred to under the Hebrew word 
Copher and has been wrongly translated into English as Camphire, 
a word which was used in old English to signify Camphor (the 
product of an entirely different tree). Hennah is the “‘ Cyprus of 
Egypt” referred to by Pliny. It appears to be a native of Arabia 
and to have been distributed by the Arabs into Turkey (Asiatic 
and European), Egypt, and along the coast of the Mediterranean. 
Its modern Arabic name is Thamar-ul-hinné’i (the hinna shrub), 
the leaves are also called hinna. Dr. Dymock states the verna- 
cular name in Bengalee to be Mehedi, in the Bombay and Hindee 
dialects Mehndee, and in Tamil, Marutouri and Aivanam. Arabic 
and Persian works give Arkan and Fakuliytn as the Greek names. 
The plant is figured in Van Rheede’s ‘Hortus Malabaricus,’ i. 
tab. 40, under the name of Mail-anschi. Botanically it is known 
as the Lawsonia inermis (Linnzeus). According to Dr. Roxburgh 
(Flora Indica, ii. p. 446) it is called in the Telinga dialect Gounta, 
and it is indigenous on the Coast of Coromandel, where he 
found it in the state of a large shrub, though “it is naturally a 
small ramous tree. It flowers and seeds most part cf the year. 
The flowers are small, greenish yellow, and remarkably fragrant 
whether fresh or dry, being particularly grateful at a distance. 
It is much used for hedges, growing readily from cuttings. Fertile 
seeds are not often met with. He considers the species called 
spinosa to be nothing more than the same plant growing on a 
dry sterile soil; it is then very thorny, the branchlets being thin, 


314 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


short, and rigid, with sharp thorny points. The fresh leaves beaten 
up with catechu dyes the nails and skin of a reddish-orange 
colour which is much admired by the women all over India. 
The freshly-made paste is laid on at bed-time and removed in the 
morning; the colour remains till the nails or epidermis is 
renewed or removed. ‘The leaves yield in decoction a porter- 
coloured or deep orange-coloured liquor which acids destroy 
although alkalies and infusions of astringent vegetables deepen 
it. Although this decoction dyes the fingers, it does not com- 
municate any colour to cloth variously prepared, or yield scarcely 
any precipitate. 

A large business is done in the leaves of this plant. The stems 
are cut several times a year and stripped of their leaves, which 
are dried in the sun and reduced to powder. The plants, which 
are cut down almost to the ground, throw out fresh shoots and 
suckers, which are cut with a sickle like the first. Several crops 
are thus yielded during many successive years. 

To obtain the flowers, the shrub is not pruned but allowed to 
attain the height of 2 or 3 metres, when it flowers in the second 
year after planting. Delchevalerie, writing in the ‘ Belgique 
Horticole, says the culture is easy and might probably be carried 
on successfully in Italy and the south of France. He considers 
the inermis, which has larger leaves, to be a different variety 
from the spinosa. Specimens of Hennah from Senegal, under 
the vernacular name of “ Foudeen,” were exhibited at the Paris 
Exhibition, 1878. Samples of the essential oil from Lucknow, 
under the local name of Mehndee-Ka-utter, were exhibited at the 
London Exhibition, 1862; the word Utter in Hindee being 
equivalent to otto and applying to all fragrant essential oils. 

The Hennah has been naturalized in the West Indies, where 
it is called the ‘ Jamaica Mignonette.”’ The powerful fragrance 
of its flowers has, however, more the resemblance to a combination 
of mignonette and rose. 


SANTAL. 315 


CHAP TR XIV. 
SANTAL,—CEDAR. 


SANTAL. 


Dr. Bertuotp Srremann, the botanist, in calling attention to 
the commercial importance of Santal wood (sometimes called 
“ Sandal,” “ Yellow Sandal,” and ‘Santal Citrin”) remarked 
that “the trade in this fragrant wood has been going on since 
the dawn of history and will probably not cease until the con- 
nection between santal trees and idolators, existing from time 
immemorial, shall have been broken up, by either the one or the 
other becoming as extinct a race as the Archeopteryx or the Dodo.” 
The religious sentiment of millions of human beings is still 
intimately associated with this wood. Some of the most ancient 
records inform us of the prominent part played by the wood in 
India; and since the introduction of Buddhism into China, that 
country, destitute of santal trees, has become the principal 
market for this important production. A piece of wood the 
diameter of 4 to 6 inches is considered as the most acceptable 
offermg a person can make to the idols of the temple. Large 
pieces are presented by the rich on particular occasions. 

Santal wood is the product of several species of the genus 
Santalum, of the natural order Santalacee. The genus is com- 
posed of about 20 species, spread over Asia, Australia, and 
Polynesia, and in habit may be compared with the Myrtles. It 
is possible that other species now said to exist in Madagascar 
and New Guinea may be recognized by botanists. The East- 
Indian santal wood and probably also the so-called Macassar 
santal wood are furnished by Santalum albun, Linn.* It is 


= Sp. Pl leds Walld. asp, Gol. 


316 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


botanically described by Roxburgh (Flor, Ind. i. p. 462); and by 
Rumphius (Amb, ii. p. 42, t. 11). In the Asiatic Researches (iv. 
p- 253) it is named Chandana, the Sanskrit names being given as 
Gundhasdra, Malayaja, and Bhadrasri, and the Persian (by Rox- 
burgh) as Sundul-sufed. In Bengali it is called Chandan, and 
in Hindt Safed-Chandan., 

Santalum album is a native of the mountainous parts of India, 
but is found more especially in the Mysore, Malabar, and Coim- 
batore, extending northwards into Canara, and has been found 
in the thickets of Midnaptr. It likewise grows on the Coro- 
mandel Coast, in Madura and Assam, and is frequently cultivated 
as a garden plant. The same tree, or a variety, is met with in 
several islands of the Eastern Archipelago, viz., Eastern Java, 
the Santal Wood Islands, Sumba, and Timor. It grows freely 
in hedges aud gardens, and in arich soil attains a large size; 
but in such localities the timber is of little value and has scarcely 
any perfume. Soil and elevation have great influence on the 
amount of oil produced. It thrives up to an elevation of 4000 
feet, and yields the largest quantity of oil when grown in dry, 
sunny, rocky, mountainous districts, or soils of volcanic origin, 
although it does not reach so great a height. It is rarely found 
in forests. In the Madras Presidency and the Mysore it is now 
grown in Government plantations from seeds; but it also springs 
from roots which have been left in the ground. 

The height of the tree is only from 20 to 30 feet. The bark 
is greyish brown and somewhat scabrous, with longitudinal 
fissures. The branches are numerous, opposite, slender, and 
much divided, rising in every direction and forming nearly a 
spherical head. The young twigs are round and smooth. 

The leaves are lanceolate-obtuse, opposite, entire, and smooth, 
their under surface glaucous; their length is from 1} to 3 inches, 
on stalks of scarcely one fourth the length of the leaves. The 
numerous small inodorous flowers are of straw-colour when they 
first expand, but change to a deep rusty purple, as do all the 
exterior parts of the growing plant, even when bruised. The 
succulent fruit is black when ripe and of the size of a cherry. 
The seed is solitary. The tree is an evergreen and produces 
flowers and ripe seed nearly ali the year, chiefly, however, from 
March to July. 

In a young state the plant appears to be parasitic. W. B. 


SANTAL. 317 


Hemsley says * :—“ Dr. King, Superintendent of the Calcutta 
Botanic Gardens, assures us from his own observations that the 
S. album is sometimes parasitic on the roots of other plants when 
young. This assertion is borne out by the frequent failure of 
cultivators to raise seedlings of this plant when its seeds are sown 
alone, also by the fact that its usual habitat in a wild state is in 
hedges and thickets. But that it is not always so is evident 
from the fact that germinating seeds sent from Ceylon to 
Mauritius in 1877 have since grown, and fruited twice a year. 
On the other hand, as we learn from an article in the current 
volume of the ‘Indian Forester,’ decaying vegetable matter is 
necessary for the successful raising of seedling santal trees. The 
editor of the serial named inserts the following note (p. 205) on 
this subject :—‘ Colonel Doveton, Conservator of Forests, found 
santal seedlings growing as a roct-parasite on the wild Date-palm 
(Pheniz sylvestris), and such seedlings were more vigorous than 
others rooted independently in the soil.” In regular plantations 
the seeds are sown two or three in one hole, with a chili seed. 
It is certain that other genera of this order are parasitic, and, 
indeed, other species of this genus, for Nadeaud has stated 
(‘ Enumération des plantes indigénes de |’Ie de Tahiti’) that the 
Tahitian santal wood (Santalum insulare, Betero), is parasitic on 
the roots of other trees, generally on Cummersonia echinata or 
Alphitonia ziziphoides. Also Scott showed in 18717 that 
Santalum was parasitic, its roots becoming attached to those of 
many other plants by tuber-like processes. 

When santal-wood trees have reached perfection, which they 
do in from 20 to 30 years, having then a diameter of from 9 to 
12 inches just above the root and a height of about 25 feet, they 
are either cut down, at the latter part of the year, or dug up; 
if the former, the roots are generally dug up afterwards. If a 
tree be allowed to exceed these dimensions it is generally found 
rotten at the core, which is the most valuable part. The tree 
being felled, worthless branches are removed, also the bark, and 
the trunk is either buried for 6 or 8 weeks, or left lying on the 
ground, in order that the white ants may eat off the inodorous 
sap-wood. It is then taken up and sent to the Depdét, where it 
is cut into billets of from 2 to 4 feet long, carefully trimmed, 


* Challenger Reports, Botany, vol. i. 1885. 
7 Journ. of Agricult. and Horticult. Soc. of India, ii. part i. p, 287. 


318 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


and sorted according to quality. In cutting down the trees, the 
earth is removed from about the root, so that the collectors may cut 
as low as possible. The billet taken from the trunk immediately 
above the root is called the “ root billet ” and is of superior quality, 
and by its comparative scarceness realizes the highest price. 

Concerning the sorting, Buchanan says* :-—“'The deeper the 
colour the higher the perfume, hence the merchants sometimes 
divide santal wood into red, yellow, and white; but these are 
only different shades of the same colour, and do not arise from 
any difference in species.” He distinctly implies that the three 
kinds are derived from the heart-wood. The following state- 
ment by Udoy Chand Dutt + is to the same effect, when writing 
of the white and yellow santal wood :—‘ These varieties are 
founded on the difference in depth of colour of the heart-wood.” 
From this it appears that the statement which has been made by 
some writers, that white santal wood is the sap-wood of S. album, 
is, at least, somewhat misleading. The sap-wood is nevertheless 
found in commerce, for Balfour describes it as “ coated with” 
thick, compact bark, has a grey and brownish epidermis, it is 
nearly inodorous and has a slightly bitter taste.’ Kirkby, who 
has studied the santal-woods, says{ :—‘ As the white is doubtless 
a lighter shade of the yellow, so is the red (apart from that 
obtained from Pterocarpus santalinus, which is truly red and 
inodorous) a deeper shade. The red kind was not recognized in 
Sanskrit medical works, the only kinds mentioned being S¢rik- 
handa or the white wood and Pitachandana the yellow wood.” 

The trees being now carefully protected by the Mysore 
Government, and only cut down when they reach maturity, it 
might not be thought that the wood much varied in quality, 
but it varies considerably ; the pieces which are straight and have 
the most heart-wood fetch the highest price. The chips and 
fragments removed in the process of trimming the billets and 
squaring the ends are also sold. 

It is very difficult to estimate the value of santal wood by 
reason of the very variable amount of oil contained in each billet, 
and parcels purchased by distillers often give a very disappointing 


* “A Journey from Madras through the countries of the Mysore, Canara, and 
Malabar,’ ii. p. 153. 

+ The Mat. Med. of the Hindus, 1877, p. 133, 

{ Pharm. Journ. [3] xvi. p. 858. 


SANTAL. 319 


yield. In common wood and chips it may be as low as 1} per 
cent. and in some fine wood as much as 5 per cent. The amount 
extracted greatly depends upon the fine state of division to which 
the wood is brought before distillation. ‘This is effected by first 
incising or chipping the logs by powerful machinery and then 
disintegrating them with special tearing or rasping apparatus or 
with mill-stones. 

The wood is all sold by weight at the annual Government auctions, 
native merchants congregating from all parts of India to make 
purchases. The Lots being classed according to quality are cata- 
logued under the following denominations :— 


Ist class billets. 


5} 
SN: Selected logs, only obtainable in small quantities. 


3rd, ” 

4th ,, ” 

9 3 ag Logs. The superior santal-wood of commerce. 

Large Roots. Roots in large pieces. 

Small Roots. op small ,, 

Jug Pokal ...... Ordinary commercial, consisting of small logs and large 
ranches. 

Bagar Adad .... Similar to the former but somewhat smaller. 

Jyen Bagar...... Inferior woods. 

Jyen Chilta...... Common wood. 

Milva Chilta .... Chips in large pieces. 

Milva Chilta split. as Bplit 7 

Hathri Chilta.... + oe i 

Adzed chips .... » good ,, 

White chips .... Py pale inferior. 

yen Chips .5...%,s + most inferior. 

Sawdust. 


All logs bear the stamp of the particular class to which they belong. 


The wood is imported into Europe from Tellichery and Bombay 
in logs from 2 to 4 feet long, and from 3 to 8 (rarely 14) inches in 
diameter. It is very homogeneous, rather hard, and ponderous, 
although it does not sink in water. [tis somewhat hard to cut trans- 
versely but it splits comparatively easily. In colour it is yellow, 
fawn-coloured, or reddish-brown, being darker in the centre than at 
the periphery, and is marked with darker concentric zones or annual 
rings. In the inner part of the wood the zones are sometimes very 
wide, measuring sometimes as much as seven millimetres; possibly, 
therefore, they do not correspond to one year’s growth*, but to that 


* C. A. de Bary, ‘Vergleichende Anatomie der Vegetationsorgane,’ 1877, 
p. 519. 


320 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


of alonger period. The transverse section, examined by means of a 
lens, displays the numerous narrow medullary rays and wide vessels, 
partly empty, partly loaded with yellow resin. It has a strong, 
persistent, agreeable and characteristic odour, especially when 
freshly cut. Perfumes are difficult to compare, but, by some per- 
sons, that of santal wood is thought to resemble a mixture of musk 
and rose. ‘The taste is aromatic. ‘ Three sorts are recognized in 
the commercial houses of China, viz. ‘ South Sea Island,’ ‘ Timor,’ 
and ‘Malabar’; the last fetches from three to four times as high 
a price as either of the others” *. “ Malabar” santal is included 
amongst parcels commercially called “ Bombay Santal” +. Under 
the microscope the wood is seen to consist of tracheides intersperse:| 
with solitary pitted vessels and traversed by narrow medullary rays. 
Among the tracheides are parenchymatous cells of about the same 
diameter as the tracheides ; it is in these the essential oil is con- 
tained ; they are isolated, but two, or perhaps three, are found in 
close proximity. In transverse section, single large crystals of 
calcium oxalate are seen. These are contaimed in angular cells 
arranged in vertical rows. The medullary rays consist of two rows of 
thickened, pitted cells, and contain resin. In the sap-wood, which 
is scentless, both vessels and medullary rays are less distinct f. 

The Mysore Government have establishments for distilling the 
oil, which is also sold at the annual auctions along with the wood, 
and chiefly bought up for exportation to China and Arabia The 
roots yield the largest quantity and the finest quality of oil. 

Dr. Bidie describes the method of distillation in India as fol- 
lows :— The body of the still is a large globular clay pot of about 
21 feet deep by about 6 feet circumference at its widest part. No 
capital is used to this still, but when in use, the mouth is closed 
with a clay lid having a small hole in its centre, through which a 
bent copper tube about 53 feet long is passed for the escape of the 
vapour. The lower end of the tube is conveyed inside a copper 
receiver, placed in a large porous vessel containing cold water. 
When preparing the santal for distillation, the white or sap-wood 
is rejected and the heart-wood is cut into small chips, of which 

* Fliickiger and Hanbury, ‘ Pharmacographia,’ 1874, p, 543. 

+ Durand, “ Etude sur les Santalacées,” Théses de la Faculté de Médecine 
de Paris, 1874. 

{ The microscopic sections of various santal woods are delineated by Petersen 
in Pharm, Journ. [3] xvi. p. 758; and by Kirkby, ibid. pp. 859 and 1065. 


SANTAL. By 


about 50 lbs. are put into the still. As much water is then added 
as will just cover the chips, and distillation is carried on slowly for 
ten days and nights, by which time the whole of the oil is ex- 
tracted. As the water from time to time gets low in the still, 
fresh supplies are added from the heated contents of the refrige- 
rator. The quantity of oil yielded by wood of good quality is (by 
this process) at the rate of 10 ozs. per maund of 25 lbs. or 2°5 per 
cent. It is transparent and of a pale yellow colour, and has a 
resinous taste and sweet peculiar smell. The sp. gr. is about 
M9807: 

The new British Pharmacopeeia requires the sp. gr. to be 0°96, 
a figure which by large distillers is considered too low, although a 
sample examined from the India Museum had a sp. gr. at 65° F. 
of 0°9901; and a perfectly pure specimen distilled in Mysore 
specially for the Pharmaceutical Society was found to have a 
sp. gr. at 16° C. of 0°9896. These great densities are attributed 
to the crude method of distilling over a bare fire. Oils distilled in 
Germany from the best materials have been found to mark a 
sp. gr. at 15° C. of 0970 to 0'978. A larger yield is obtained in 
Germany by reason of more effective appliances being used to 
thoroughly disintegrate the wood and distil out the oil. 

According to Dr. Dymock, as much as 12,000 lbs. of this 
** Indian ”’ oil are imported into Bombay from the Malabar coast, 
being worth 84 rupees per lb., and used chiefly for perfumery. It 
is imported into this country to the extent of not more than 1500 
Ibs., and often reaches England in a discoloured state, adulterated 
with fixed oil and containing traces of water. It is rejected by 
wholesale druggists for medicinal purposes, and is entirely used in 
perfumery. 

Although the English distilled oil realizes a higher price than 
either Indian or German oil, it is believed that the Continental 
distillers are far in advance of the British in their superiority both 
of plant and of the knowledge necessary for the production of this 
and other essential oils, two well-known German firms probably 
distilling three-quarters of the whole quantity used in Europe. 

The Indian oil may be adulterated betore siiipment with various 
fixed oils, such as those of sesame and cotton-seed, and even with 
santal-tree-seed oil, which is used as lamp oil in Mysore. A 


* ¢Pharmacopceia of India,’ p, 461. 


322 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


volatile oil which becomes an easy adulterant is cedar-wood oil, as 
various oxidizing agents have very much the same action on both 
oils, and reduction of sp. gr. caused by admixture of cedar-wood 
oil is not a sufficiently reliable indication by reason of the high 
figures of some of the Indian distillates. 

Pure German distilled oil of Indian santal wood, sp. gr. 0°9797, 
is perfectly soluble in its own volume of methylated alcohol of 
sp. gr. 0°839. Cedar-wood oil forms a white cloudy mixture in 
its own volume of the same solvent ; but one volume of an equal 
mixture of santal-wood and cedar oil under the same conditions 
dissolves perfectly. (See Addenda, p. 374.) 

With alcohol of sp. gr. 0°920, the same Indian santal oil also 
dissolves in an equal volume; one c. cm. of “ Macassar” santal 
oil of sp. gr. 0°9738 requiring 1°3 c. em. of the solvent. One c.cm. 
of cedar oil requires 5 c. em. of alcohol of same strength for solu- 
tion. From these facts, observed by Mr. Holmes ™%, it appears that 
whilst oil of cedar may be recognized by its insolubility in an equal 
volume of alcohol of sp. gr. 0°920, its admixture with santal-wood 
oil to the extent of 10 per cent. cannot be easily detected. 

The admixture of “ West Indian” and ‘‘ West Australian” santa] 
oil can be detected by observing the optical rotation, and the addi- 
tion of “South Australian” santal oil would increase the sp. gr. 
(these figures are hereafter given). 

Pure Indian oil of santal contains a body called Santalal, 
C,;H,,0, boiling at 300° C., together with a smaller amount of 
Santalol, Cy;H 0, which boils at 310°, and is converted by distilla- 
tion with phosphorous pentoxide into Santalene, C,;H,.,, boiling at 
260°; Santalal, on the other hand, when subjected to similar treat- 
ment, yields a hydrocarbon C,;H,. which is probably identical with 
Cedrene (?) +. Santalyl acetate, C,;H,; .C,H;0., is prepared by 
heating santalol to 150° with glacial acetic acid; this liquid boils 
at 298° and has a fruity odour. 

The Santalum myrtifolium, Roxb., differs in one or two particu- 
lars from S. album, and Roxburgh considered the differences to be 
of sufficient importance to warrant him in giving it a specific 
name {. It has lanceolate, waved leaves about 2 inches long and 
2 inch broad, It is a native of the Circar mountains, where it is 

* Pharm. Journ. [3] xvi. p. 822. 
* Bull. Soc. Chim. xxxvii. p. 303. 
t Flor. Ind. i. p. 464, and Corom., PI. i. no, 2. 


SANTAL. 323 


but of small size. Its wood is much less odorous than S. album, 
and yields an oil of poorer quality. Birds greedily eat the berries, 
which are smooth, black, juicy, and about the size of a large pea ; 
by this means it is propagated extensively. At present it is con- 
sidered to be a variety of S. album, Linn. (var. 8. myrtifolium, D.C.). 
Bentley and Trimen have included it in their description of 
S. album *. 

Macassar santal wood is brought from Timor and Sumba, the 
“ Santal Wood Islands”’ off the north-west coast of Australia, to the 
market in Macassar, and is thence consigned to Holland. The 
tree yielding it is probably the Santalum album, L. 

The “ Macassar ”’ santal wood is lighter than water, cuts with 
difficulty transversely, but cleaves easily. It is of pale fawn-colour 
to yellowish brown, with darker concentric zones spreading over 
the whole. Its odour is similar to the East-Indian but not so 
powerful, and its microscopical structure is similar except that the 
distance apart of the medullary rays and diameter of the vessels 
are less. 

By distillation, from 2 to 5 per cent. of oil is obtainable, very 
similar to the East Indian oil. 

An examination of various santal woods was made by Kirkby in 
1886, and illustrations of his microscopic analysis published +. 
He distinguishes between the Macassar and Indian woods by the 
following chemical reaction :—‘‘ When a section of the former is 
treated with the microscopist’s ordinary solution of iodine and 
potassium iodide it becomes coloured an intense black . . .; the 
Indian oil of santal abstracts iodine from its aqueous solution, but 
no change of colour takes place, . . .’ He considers that the oil 
“ contains something in solution which has a remarkable attrac- 
tion for iodine when compared with the Indian santal-wood oil, 
which may be accounted for by differences of climate, soil, or 
elevation.” However this may be, there is very little difference 
between the two oils as regards their sp. gr. and optical activity ; 
the figures of which, as determined by Schimmel, are as follows :— 


Sp. gr. at 15° C, 


East Indian......... 0970 to 0:978. Rotation —17° 20/. 
Macassare. 2: sound 0: 9708 t —18° 40'. 
West Australian... spe AOROS Ss . + 5° 20’. 


West Indian ...... 0 09Gb, as + 26° 10'. 


* Medicinal Plants, iv. 
+ Pharm. Journ. [3] xvi. p. 859, i 
x2 


324 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The “ West Australian” santal is derived from Fusanus spicatus, 
R. Br. (8. spicatum, D.C., and S. Cignorum, Miq.), from Swan River. 
A specimen of a “ West Australian” santal wood was exhibited in 
Paris in 1878, and was said to be derived from S. latifolium. The 
Australian santal woods arriving in England from Adelaide and 
Freemantle are less fragrant than the Indian, and are not much 
valued in Europe; their principal market is Smgapore. The other 
Australian santal woods are Fusanus persicarius, F. Muel., in 
West Australia; S. /anceolatum, R. Br., in North Australia, New 
South Wales, and Queensland; and Fusanus acuminatus of South 
Austrailia. 

The Santalum Preissii of the interior of South Australia yields 
a wood which is said to be quite different from that of S. Cignorum, 
Miq. (Fusanus spicatus, R. Br.), of West Australia. The tree 
is locally called Quandong. 'The wood is dark brown in colour, 
with unusually close tenacious texture, and is extraordinarily 
hard and heavy. Messrs. Schimmel state* that 75 kilos of the 
wood directly imported by them from South Australia yielded 
the comparatively large quantity of 3 kilos 800 grams of essen- 
tial oil, which is quite equal to 5 per cent., and is thus one of 
tke richest santal woods for oil. In many respects this oil is 
characteristic and interesting. It is viscid, of a cherry-red 
colour, and heavier than water; at 15° C. its sp. gr. being 1°022. 
It possesses the property of solidifying at medium temperatures, 
and separating a crystalline body which forms in colourless prisms 
melting at 104°-105°, so that in the process of distillation the 
cooling must be effected very carefully, otherwise the condensing 
tubes become blocked. This phenomenon occurs especially in 
the medium fractions of the oil. When in raspings the wood has 
an agreeable balsamic odour, with a suggestion of rose oil that 
unfortunately is not perceptible in the normal oil. By separating 
the oil into a number of fractions by steam distillation, the Rose 
odour could be recognized distinctly in some of the middle 
fractions. 

African santal-wood oil is another novelty recently acquired by 
the same firm. A parcel of 17,000 kilos was received by them 
from Tamatave (Madagascar). The wood is brownish red in 
colour, and uncommonly hard and close. Distilled with water 


* Bericht, April 1891, p. 63. 


SANTAL, SPAT, 


it yielded 3 per cent. of a ruby-red oil having the consistence of 
East Indian oil. Its sp. gr. at 15° C. was found to be 0°969. Its 
odour is poor, resembling that of “ West Indian” oil. This wood 
is not botanically identified, but it appears* that “in the northern 
parts of Madagascar a wood with properties similar to santal wood 
is known under the Sakalava name of Hasoranto.” 

The ‘‘ West Indian” santal wood of commerce comes from Puerto 
Cabello in Venezuela. The tree producing it does not appear to 
have been identified. In appearance it differs totally from the 
Indian santal and the Macassar, and probably does not belong at 
all to the Santalaceze. It has been examined by Kirkby, in the 
paper above referred to, also by Andreas Petersen of Copenhagen +, 
who says that “a transverse section exhibits very distinctly a well- 
marked irregular limit between the brown heart-wood and the 
yellowish sap-wood. It is very hard, tough, and ponderous, and 
sinks in water, to which it yields a faintly yellow matter. It is 
difficult to cut and split. Medullary rays or annual rings cannot 
be discovered even by means of a lens, whereas long radiate rows 
of vessels loaded with resin make their appearance in the heart- 
wood if examined by a lens. On a radiate section the vessels may 
also be seen to contain a bright glittermg resin. The odour is 
weak but agreeable. The yield of oil is about 24 per cent.” Its 
sp. gr. is stated above. 

Fyi santal wood is yielded by Santalum Yasi, Seem. It is now 
rather rare through the trees having been mostly cut down by 
traders. The microscopic structure of this wood bears a close re- 
semblance to that of S. album, but is less rich in vessels, and its 
parenchymatous cells as seen in the transverse section are rather 
more regularly arranged in rows than in the latter, but the differ- 
ences are not very conspicuous (Petersen). A sample of this wood 
obtained from the Colonial Exhibition and distilled by Mr. Umney 
gave the unusually large yield of 64 per cent. of oil, the sp. gr. of 
which was determined by Mciiwan at 16° C. as 0'9768. This oil 
was of a pale straw-colour and soluble in less than its own volume 
of rectified spirit ; thus a mixture of equal parts of spirit and oil 
takes up another part of oil. Its rotatory power, observed by 
Dr. Symes, was — 25°50 f. 

* Kew Bulletin, May 1888, p. 135. 
+ Pharm. Journ. [3] xvi. p. 757. 
} Ibid. xvii. p. 661. 


326 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


Sandwich Islands santal wood was furnished for a number of 
years, until the reckless cutting down of the young trees nearly 
destroyed it, by Santalum Freycinetianum, Gaud., and its varieties 
ellipticum, paniculatum, and pyrularium, Gray, natives of these 
islands (where they were called Lau-ala); only a few isolated 
specimens being left of the magnificent groves that formerly covered 
parts of the Islands of Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai. 

The supply of Santalum Homei from the island of Eromanga 
seems to be equally worked out. In Tahiti the S. msulare, Betero, 
formerly grew and has probably met with the same fate; it was 
known by the native name “ Hai.” 

In New Caledonia the wood was yielded by S. austro-caledonicum, 
Vieill., known to the natives as Tibean. The tree in its natural 
state having been nearly exhausted, it is now cultivated, and small 
parcels are sent from thence to France. 

In New Zealand the wood is said to be yielded by S. Cunning- 
hami, Hook. ; it is locally known as Mairi. 

In the Percy Isles, Repulse Bay, Cape Upstart, and the Palm 
Islands, an inferior kind has been met with, it is the wood of 
Exocarpus latifolia, R. Br.*. Balfour also states that a white 
santal wood called Lava or Lawa is imported from Zanzibar into 
Bombay. “In the Kew Museum there is a specimen of wood 
labelled ‘Santal vert’ (Croton sp.), exported from Madagascar 
and Zanzibar into India, where it is said to be used for burning 
the bodies of Hindus.” Also a specimen from J. Heathcote from 
Professor MacOwan, received 6 Feb. 1886, labelled “‘ Wood lke 
Santal wood (Croton sp.).” It is ground and mixed with water, 
and used by the natives at Inhambane to anomt themselves. 
“These iatter are not properly santal woods. They are mentioned 
as indicating the possible source of what is called santal wood at 
Madagascar ” ft. 

The wood of Plumieria alba, belonging to the Apocynacee, is 
sometimes substituted for santal wood. 

Mewican santal-wood bark.—This name is applied in Mexico to 
what is considered to be the bark of a species of Myrowxylon or 
Myrospermum (leguminous plants), indigenous to Mexico and some 
of the Central American Republics. It is used as incense in the 


* Balfour, Cyclo. of India, 1873, v. 
+ Kew Bulletin, May 1888. 


SANTAL, EF). 


churches. As described by Dr. Stieren*, this bark occurs in 
irregular, more or less smooth, or unevenly corrugated pieces, of a 
hight whitish cinnamon colour, with dark, hard epidermis, and of 
an agreeable custard-like smell, and aromatic, slightly acid, bal- 
samic, bitterish taste. A small quantity coarsely powdered and 
sprinkled over burning coals emitted a balsamic, mixed aromatic 
odour. A thin cross-section manifested, at about 75 diameters 
linear, in the microscope, oil-cells interstriated with apparently 
semi-viscid resinous matter. By exhaustion with alcohol, and 
slow evaporation of the extract to the consistence of syrup, a clear, 
rich brown, sweet-scented balsam, not unlike Peruvian balsam in 
appearance, was obtained, amounting to 15 per cent. of the bark. 
Experiments proved that the odorous principles rest in an oily 
substance, cinnamic acid and its combinations and resinous 
matter. 

A yellow wood which is sometimes used as a substitute for 
santal in religious ceremonies, is that of the Xymenia Americana, 
found in the Cirear mountains, the Andaman Isles, Malacca, 
Ceylon, and distributed in tropical Africa and America. It is a 
large ramous thorny shrub, bearing white fragrant flowers. It is 
described by Roxburgh, Flor. Ind. 1. p. 252, and in Hooker’s 
‘Flora of British India,’ i. p. 574. This wood may be powdered 
and mixed with other ingredients into the form of “joss-sticks ” 
for fumigations, in the same way as santal wood is in China. 
Such sticks are sometimes so made as to smoulder continuously 
for a fortnight (and are actually used as time-pieces). 

Possibly some of the santal woods of the Middle Ages were not 
exclusively furnished by species of Santalum. The Epicharis 
(Dyoxylum) Loureirti, Pierre, and Epicharis Bailloni, Pierre, trees 
belonging to the order Meliacee, and growing in Yunnan and 
Cochin China, are mentioned by Baillon+ as sources of santal 
wood. 

The Algum trees “out of Lebanon ” of 2 Chron. i. 8, and ix. 
11, and Almug trees “from Ophir” of 1 Kings, x. 11, 12 (both 
references being about B.c. 500), have been generally identified 
with the true Santal wood (S. album) because one of its Sanskrit 
names is evidently the same word as the Hebrew a/gum or almug. 


* Pharm. Journ, [3] xv. p. 680. 
+ Traité de Botanique Méd. 1884, p. 974. 


328 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


But considering the use to which Algum or Almug wood was put 
by Solomon, for flooring and pillars, and to make musical instru- 
ments, it was probably not santal wood, but cedar, or some hard 
close-grained wood like shishem or sissoo (Dalbergia sp.), well 
known as “ Bombay Blackwood,” or else Red Sanders wood (of 
which most of the musical instruments in India are now made). 
Nevertheless santal wood is used in India for the pillars and 
doors of temples. The famous gates of the temple Somnath, 
carried off to Afghanistan by Mahmud of Ghazni, a.p. 1025, and 
restored to India by Lord Ellenborough in 1842, were found on 
examination not to be, as was generally said, of santal wood but 
of Cedrus Deodar (Indian Cedar), They are still lyimg in the old 
palace in the fort of Agra. 

The wood known as Red Sanders Wood, sometimes wrongly 
called ‘Sandal Wood,” contains no oil and is quite odourless. It 
is obtained from Pterocarpus santalinus, a leguminous tree found 
in Ceylon, and is a native of Southern India. The wood is 
imported in heavy dark-red billets and in chips. It is employed 
in pharmacy for colouring tinctures and is feebly astringent. Its 
red colouring-matter is termed Santalin, C,;H,,O;, which is in- 
soluble in water, turpentine, and fixed oils, but soluble in alcohol, 
ether, and acetic acid. In most essential oils it is nearly if not 
quite insoluble, but owing to its free solubility in rectified spirit 
it is useful to detect the presence of spirit in many essential oils. 
(A crystal of aniline red, magenta, can be used in the same way— 
a drop of oil let fall on to it and gently pressed with a paper- 
knife, the colour is not miscible unless spirit is contained in the 
oil as an adulterant. An exception to this test is oil of cloves, 
which dissolves the colour, and possibly other oils containing 
eugenol may dissolve it.) 


Crpar. 

The bulk of the oil of cedar of commerce is economically 
produced by distilling the sawdust and waste wood of the lead- 
pencil factories. In some factories in Germany this refuse 
accumulates to such an extent that it is sold at a very low price 
to get rid of it, as it would otherwise be used only as fuel. The 
wood is called “ Red Cedar” or “ pencil cedar” and is yielded by 
the Juniperus Virginiand, Linn., a coniferous tree native of the 
greater part of the United States. 


CEDAR. 329 


J. Virginiana is the largest, the widest spread, and the most 
useful of the American Junipers. It is the only conifer (and one 
of the very few trees) which is found East as well as West, and 
certainly the only one which at the same time extends through so 
many degrees of latitude. It is well known from the St. Lawrence 
to the Cedar Keys of Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky 
Mountains and even to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia; on 
the Upper Missouri (Cedar Island) it attains large dimensions. 
It is commonly of a pyramidal form with shreddy bark and red 
aromatic heart-wood; soft and easily splitting, but extremely 
durable, in fact almost imperishable. The branchlets are slender 
and 4-angled. The leaves of the young plants and of vigorous 
shoots are acicular, subulate and spreading; but on the older 
trees they are nearly all very minute, scale-like, and closely 
imbricate. From the great disparity in the proportion of scale- 
like leaves and subulate leaves in different individuals, as well as 
the more or less distinct habit, it is difficult to find two trees 
exactly alike, even in a large plantation. The prevailing hue is 
dark sombre green; but in the variety glauca (syn. alba argentea) 
the foliage is of a silvery glaucous tinge, and this variety has a 
more compact conical habit. 

The J. V. humilis is a dwarf spreading form of reddish tinge, 
and the J. V. pendula, of which there are two or three varieties, 
has long, slender, pendulous branches. There are also variegated 
varieties, aura and alba, in the ordinary form. 

The yield of essential oil from Juniperus Virginiana has been 
estimated at as much as 34 per cent. It distils over as a soft 
semi-fluid mass, consisting of a liquid hydrocarbon Cedrene, 
C,;H.,, and an oxygenated solid camphor or stereoptene, C,;H.,O. 
To separate the camphor, the crude oil is distilled, the distillate is 
pressed between linen to free it from the greater portion of the 
liquid cedrene which adheres to it, and then crystallized from 
alcohol of ordinary strength, which retains the rest of the cedrene 
in solution. Cedar camphor thus purified is a silky crystalline 
mass of great beauty and lustre and of aromatic odour. It melts 
at 74° C. and boils at 282° C. without alteration. It is very 
sparingly soluble in water, but freely so in alcohol, from whence 
it crystallizes in needles of a silky lustre. It gives by analysis 
81 per cent. of carbon and 11°8 of hydrogen, agreeing with the 
preceding formula; hence it is isomeric with the camphor of 


530 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


cubebs, also with camphor of patchouli; probably for this reason 
and being of an odour which is not antagonistic, oil of cedar is 
selected as a convenient adulterant to oil of patchouli. 

With pentachloride of phosphorus, camphor of cedar yields an 
aromatic substance which has not yet been fully investigated. 
By distillation with phosphoric anhydride it is resolved into water 
and cedrene C,;H,,, identical with the liquid portion squeezed out 
of the original crude product, the sp. gr. of which, at 15° C., is 
0-984, and boiling-point 248° C.* Bertagnini found + that oil of 
cedar combines with the acid sulphites of the alkali metals. 

In the American pencil factories some oil is obtained by col- 
lecting the condensed vapours of the drying-chambers, but it does 
not realize the price of the ordinary distilled oil. 

Oil of “ Jamaica Cedar” or “ Honduras Cedar” is distilled 
from the Cedrella odorata, Linn.t, a native of the Caribbee 
Islands and Barbadoes. The bark of the tree is rough, marked 
with longitudinal fissures; this, as well as the berries and leaves, 
has a smell like Asafcetida when fresh. The timber, however, has 
a very pleasant odour of cedar, whence the name of ‘ Cedar” is 
commonly applied to it in the British West India Islands, 
although it belongs to a totally different natural order to the tree 
yielding the pencil cedar. It is the cedar of which cigar boxes 
are mostly made, but other species of Cedrella are also used, as 
can be observed by the differences apparent in the woods of cigar 
boxes arriving from different localities of cigar manufacture. All 
these woods are not yet botanically identified, but they are 
evidently nearly allied and are probably all derived from species 
of Cedrella. 

The C. odorata forms an immense tree, with a trunk sometimes 
6 feet in diameter, and furnishes one of the most useful woods in 
Jamaica. There are canoes in the West Indies 40 feet long 
formed out of these trunks, a purpose for which it is extremely 
well adapted; the wood being soft is easily hollowed out, and 
being light will carry a great weight on the water. It is also 
used for the wainscoting of rooms and to make chests, because of 


* Walter, Ann. Chim. Phys. [3] 1. p. 498. 

+ Compt. Rend. xxxy. p. 800. 

t Sloane’s ‘Voyage to Madeira, Barbadoes, Jamaica,’ etc., 1767, il. 
tab. 220. fig. 2; ‘Browne’s Civil and Nat. Hist. of Jamaica,’ 1798, p. 159, 
t. 10. f. 1; Lamarck, ‘ Iilust. des genres,’ t. 137. 


CEDAR. oor 


its fragrance and because vermin do not so easily breed in it as in 
many other sorts of wood. It is the ‘“Sweet-scented Bastard 
Cedar.” The “‘ Bastard Cedar” grown at Kew under the name 
Cedrella odorata is the Cedrella velutina, D.C. *, possibly identical 
with C. villosa, Roxb. t, a native of the East Indies at Tipperah. 
It attains a height of 50 feet. 

Cedrella angustifolia, D.C. {, the narrow-leaved Bastard Cedar, 
is a native of New Spain and attains a height of 50 feet. 

Cedrella Braziliensis, St. Hilaire §, forms a large pyramidal 
tree in the province of Minas Geraes in Brazil; it grows to a 
height of 40 feet, and is called the “ Brazilian Bastard Cedar.’’ 
There is a variety of it called australis according to St. Hilaire. 

Cedrella Toona, Roxb. ||, is a native of the East Indies, where 
it is called Toon, and by Europeans “Toon Bastard Cedar.” Its 
size is enormous. Hooker mentions { having measured one which 
was thirty feet in girth at five feet above the ground. This was 
in East Nepal. 

Cedrella alternifolia **, native of Campechy, is a little-known 
species and probably belongs to a distinct genus. 

Juniperus Bermudiana, L., and J. Barbadensis, L., are also 
found in Jamaica and the oil distilled. The method adopted in 
Jamaica for obtaining the oil is to chip the logs up with an adze 
and pack the pieces into an iron cylinder, through which the 
steam generated in a separate boiler is passed. This oil is light 
brown in colour and very aromatic. 

The Cedar of Lebanon is the Cedrus Libani, a majestic tree 
found on Mounts Lebanon, Taurus, and Aman. This tree was 
introduced into England nearly two centuries ago, and there are 
now many hundreds of fine specimens in various parts of this 
country. It yields a brownish-yellow oil of pleasant odour, the 
yield being 2°9 per cent. Its sp. gr. is 0°985. Optical rotation 
—10° 48’ in 100 mm. tube (Schimmel). 

The Deodar or Indian Cedar is Cedrus Deodara, a pyramidal 
tree when young, with dense, slender, drooping branches, thickly 
clothed with glaucous green leaves. ‘There are two or three 
striking varieties :—C. D. robusta, C. D. crassifolia, and C. D. 


* Prodr. i. p. 625. + Hort. Beng. p. 18. 
{ Prodr. 1. p. 624. § Flore Braziliz meridionalis, ii. p. 86, t. 101. 
|| Cor. ii. t. 238. q Himalayan Journ. i. p. 183. 


** Steudel, ‘ Nomenclator botanicus,’ p. 170. 


302 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


viridis. The species is a native of the mountains of North India, 
where it forms vast forests up to an elevation of 12,000 feet. It 
attains a height of 100 to 150 feet and a girth of 20 to 30 feet. 

The cedars of California are the Libocedrus decurrens, Cupressus 
fragrans, C. Lawsoniana, and C. macrocarpa. The L., decurrens, 
called ‘‘ White Cedar,” is a noble evergreen tree, thriving in sandy 
soils, and attaining a height of 140 feet and a diameter of 5 to 
7 teet. The generic name signifies “‘ incense cedar”? on account 
of the fragrant odour it emits when burned. It is found on the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Cupressus fragrans is synony- 
mous with C. aromatica. 

The price-lists of American wholesale dealers also quote an 
““ Oil of Florida Cedar’? at one-third per lb. that of American 
cedar *, 

Oil of White Cedar distilled from Cupressus thuyoides is also 
sold as oil of cedar in America. 


* American Druggist, Aug. 1886, p. 159. 


CAMPHOR. 333 


CHAPD Ey DOV: 
CAMPHOR. 


Tue word Camphor is derived from the Arabic Kafir, which, in 
turn, was derived from the Sanskrit Kapira signifying a pure, 
white substance. The old English name for Camphor was spelt 
Camphire, and this word has evidently been used by mistake by 
the translators of the Bible in rendering into English the Hebrew 
word Kopher, which twice occurs in the “Song of Solomon” 
dG. 14 and iv. 13), and refers to the plant Hennah. The trans- 
lators have apparently confounded it with Kafir. 

Camphor, as it-was first known, was obtained from the land 
known as Kaistr, the present Sumatra, consequently was the 
substance we now know as Borneo Camphor, Malay Camphor, 
Baros Camphor, or Borneol, a substance which exists ready-formed 
in the pith-cavities of the trunk of the Dryobanalops Camphora, 
Colebrook (D. aromatica, Gaertner), a magnificent forest tree 
growing in abundance in Borneo *, and on the West and North- 
west coast of Sumatra, in forests generally less than 1000 feet 
above the level of the sea. It is found between Ayer Bangis and 
Singkel, and as far north as Bacongan and Barus. It is also 
found extensively on the small British island of Labuan. 

A few years ago a vast forest of these trees was found in Jahore, 
in the protected State of Perak (Straits Settlements), and is 
conserved by the Government. The tree is there known as Kayo 
Kapur and the camphor as Kapur baroos. It is said that all this 
camphor goes to China, where it is sold for more than its weight 
in silver (which is not surprising, as five dollars per ounce have been 
paid for specimens in Borneo). In Jahore the tree frequently 
attains a height of 150 feet, with a diameter of 6 or 7 feet at 
5 feet from the ground. 


* As, Res. xii. p. 537. 


334 ODOROGRAPHTA. 


This tree is also described by Macdonald in the fourth volume of 
the ‘ Asiatic Researches.’ He says it is found growing in a rich 
red loam, tending to a blackish clay mixed with a crumbling 
stone of the colour of marl, and that it grows principally on the 
West side of Sumatra, from the Equator to nearly 3 degrees North. 
The tree is straight, extraordinarily tall, and has a gigantic 
crown which often overtops the other forest trees by many feet. 
The trunks of these immense trees are sometimes seven feet 
in diameter, rising straight up to a height of 100 feet without 
a single branch. 

This camphor can only be obtained by the destruction of the 
entire tree. The trees do not all contain camphor. Many of 
them contain an oil which is supposed to be the first stage of the 
formation of the drug, and this would develop into camphor 
were the tree left unmolested. Both oil and camphor, when 
found, occur in the heart of the tree, not occupying the whole 
length of the pith-cavity, but often in spaces of a foot or a foot 
and a half in length at intervals. The method of extracting the 
oil is simply by making a deep incision with a Malay axe about 
14 or 18 feet from the ground till near the heart of the tree, 
when a narrower and deeper incision is made, and the oil, if any 
in the tree, gushes out and is received in bamboos or other 
utensils. In this manner a party proceeds through the woods, 
wounding the camphor trees till they attain their object. From 
a tree containing both oil and camphor, two gallons of the former 
and three pounds of the latter may sometimes be obtained, but 
hundreds of trees may be mutilated before camphor is discovered, 
as the natives have no certain means of ascertaining which trees 
contain it either in the solid or the liquid state. When camphor 
is found the tree is felled and cut into junks a few feet long ; 
these are then split and the camphor is removed from the heart 
of the tree, where it sometimes occupies a space of the thickness 
ofa man’s arm. The quantity varies considerably, from a few 
ounces up to 15 Ibs., and rarely as much as 20l|bs. are obtained. 
Some trees when felled are not found to contain any at all. The 
rarity of this description of camphor commands for it a very high 
price—from 35 to 70 shillings a pound, according to quality. It 
very rarely arrives on the London market at all, but has some- 
times been received under the name of Native Camphor. In 
Sumatra it is used to some extent as incense and for embalming 


CAMPHOR. aon 


the bodies,of the dead. The rest is exported to China, Japan, 
and other places in Eastern Asia for similar purposes. It is 
heavier than the “ Laurel Camphor” and sinks in water. It has 
the odour of common camphor, mixed with something of an 
odour of patchouli. It is jess volatile than laurel camphor and 
rather harder. The best quality occurs in the form of flat colour- 
less crystals, the largest of which rarely exceeds half an inch 
across. An inferior quality is coarsely pulverulent and of a grey 
colour. Its chemical composition is C,)H,,O, that of laurel 
camphor being C,,H,,O. By the Chinese it is called Ping-peén. 


Common CaMPpHor. 


The camphor of European commerce is derived from Cinna- 
monum Camphora, Nees & Ebermaier (Laurus Camphora, Linn., 
Camphora officinarum, C. Bahn). 

The date at which the Chinese discovered the production of 
camphor from Laurus Camphora is unknown. The tree is distri- 
buted throughout the eastern provinces of Central China, on the 
island of Haiman, and very extensively in Formosa. It also 
occurs as a forest tree on the islands of Kiushiu and Shikoku of 
South Japan, its growth bemg much more vigorous there than in 
the more northern localities. This description is called “ Laurel 
Camphor ” or “Common Camphor ”’; it is the ordinary camphor 
of European commerce, and is produced almost exclusively from 
the Camphor Laurels of Formosa and Japan. 

The large and increasing quantities of this drug consumed in 
all civilized countries make the question of its continuous pro- 
duction and regular supply a matter of considerable importance. 
It is a well known fact that the sublimation of the crude camphor 
from the wood is conducted in a primitive, careless way which 
causes great waste. The Camphor Laurels of Formosa are 
gradually being destroyed under the careless system employed 
by the Chinese gatherers. In fact they have been entirely exter- 
minated along the sea-board, and the wood is now obtained from 
the forests along the frontier between the settlements of the 
Chinese and the inland mountainous regions still occupied by the 
aboriginal population. The camphor-gatherers are thus con- 
tinually exposed to the assaults of the natives, which interrupt 
the profitable prosecution of this industry. No attempts are 


336 ODQROGRAPHIA. 


made to cultivate laurels to take the place of those destroyed, and 
a sufficient quantity of the drug is only obtained by constant 
encroachments upon the territory of the Formosans, so destroying 
the trees still further into the interior at every new move. 

The trees are felled and the small branches chopped up ; these, 
with the chips and twigs, are alone used, the heavy wood being 
abandoned. <A long trough made from a hollow tree, and coated 
with clay, is placed over 8 or 10 hearth fires, and is half filled 
with water. Boards perforated with holes are put across the 
trough, and above each hole is a jar filled with chips of the wood, 
with earthenware pots inverted above them, the joints being made 
tight by hemp and clay. The water in the trough is heated to 
boiling, and the steam passing through the holes saturates the 
chips, causing the camphor to sublime and condense in crystals 
in the inverted pots above. The camphor thus obtained is sent 
from the interior of the island to Tasmin, the principal port, 
packed in baskets covered with cloths and large leaves. On 
arrival it is re-packed in tubs or lead-lned cases for export by 
Chinese vessels to Hong Kong, Shanghai, or Canton; the loss by 
evaporation while in transit from the place of its production being 
very large. A yellow oil exudes from the packages of this crude 
camphor, which is collected and locally known as “oil of cam- 
phor.” The Formosa camphor sometimes goes by the name of 
“Chinese Camphor” and it sometimes arrives in India in a 
semi-fluid state, owing to the addition of water before shipment. 

The Japan camphor used to be extracted by boiling the wood 
with water in an iron kettle and condensing the vapour in an 
earthenware dome closed at the top with rice-straw. The modern 
practice is to distil the wood with water in an iron retort fitted 
with a wooden dome, from which the vapours are led through a 
bamboo tube to the cooling apparatus. This consists of a wooden 
box containing seven transverse compartments, and is enclosed in 
a second box through which water is allowed to flow; the vapours 
are conducted through all the compartments in succession by 
means of holes placed alternately at either end of the dividing 
walls. 

The Japan camphor arrives dry; it is lighter in colour than 
the Formosan and somewhat pinkish. It arrives in double tubs, 
one within the other, without metal lining; hence it is some- 
times called “ tub-camphor.” 


CAMPHOR. oo 


According to a paper read by Professor Maisch at the meeting 
of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in October 1890%*, the 
camphor-tree is being cultivated successfully in Florida. It 
seems to flourish in almost any soil and the tree grows rapidly. 
It is believed that in ten years there will be more camphor-trees 
than orange-trees in Florida, and that the camphor industry will 
prove to be more profitable than that of sugar. The camphor 
obtained from Florida trees approaches more nearly to that of 
Japan than to Chinese camphor, since the odour of safrol is 
distinctly recognizable. 

Attention to this industry has since been called by the American 
Pharmaceutical Association, and further statements in reference 
to this subject were made f. ‘ Messrs. Beach and Son for some 
time have been experimenting at Palatka, Florida, and from them 
is gathered some interesting information :—For the growth of the 
camphor-tree the preparation of the soil is very easy and simple, 
the tree growing with very little care after first starting. All 
timber should be cut and piled, not burned, and left to rot on the 
ground. The soil is thoroughly grubbed where the tree is to 
stand. The tree is planted and carefully staked to prevent the 
wind from swaying it when it is first set. For three or four years 
the ground should be carefully worked around the trees and kept 
clean, the growth of timber being kept down and grubbed out, 
but after this time the tree will take care of itself. The first 
trimming of the camphor-tree is to a sufficient height for the body 
of the tree; after that thin out the top and shear off the outside 
of the top, as the young wood is the most productive of camphor.” 
The yield of camphor obtained in this experimental plantation 
is said to be as much as four per cent., 7. e. 1 lb. of crude camphor 
from 25 lbs. of boughs and leaves. <A still of the very simplest 
description is used; the condenser is a straight pipe, running 
horizontally through a trough of water ; the camphor sublimes on 
the inner surface of the condenser and is afterwards got out by 
standing the pipe on end and tapping the sides. A little water 
is put into the still with the wood and leaves to prevent burning. 

Common camphor as it arrives in England contains from 2 to 
10 per cent. of impurities, consisting of gypsum, common salt, 
sulphur, and fragments of vegetable refuse. 


* Am. Journ, Pharm., Nov. 1890, p. 565. 
+ Pharmaceutical Era, June 1, 1891. 


338 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


The European process of refining camphor was long kept a 
secret, and until towards the end of the seventeenth century the 
entire camphor used in Europe had to be sent to Holland to be 
refined. A monopoly was also held for some time in Venice, but 
at the present day camphor refining is largely accomplished m 
England, Holland, Hamburg, Paris, New York, and Phila- 
delphia. The method formerly adopted in India was so arranged 
as to get as much interstitial water as possible into the “ camphor- 
cake.” The method may be stiil in use in India; in any case, the 
apparatus consisted of a tinned cylindrical copper drum, one end 
of which was removable; into this was put about 14 parts of 
crude camphor and 24 parts of water. The cover was then luted 
with clay, and the drum being placed upon a small furnace made 
of clay was also luted to the top of the furnace. In Bombay four 
such furnaces were built together, so that the tops formed a 
square platform. The sublimation was completed in about three 
hours. During the process the drums were constantly irrigated 
with cold water. The same practice was followed at Delhi and at 
a few other cities in India, and may be still in use. 

Camphor sublimed in this way is not stored, but disposed of at 
once before it has had time to lose weight by drymg. It is sold 
at the same price as the crude article, the refiner’s profit being 
derived from the introduction of water. 

The process adopted in Philadelphia has been described as 
follows * :—The subliming-chamber is a cylindrical iron vessel 
20 feet long and 4 feet in diameter, provided with the necessary 
openings for filling and for the escape of the volatilized camphor. 
This vessel is so set that it is not touched at any point by the 
direct fire, and to this end it rests throughout its entire length 
upon an arch of fire-brick, and the flame is kept under complete 
control by means of dampers. The condensing-chamber is 30 feet 
long, 16 feet wide, and 11 feet high, the floor, the sides, and the 
arched roof being constructed of enamelled bricks set in Portland 
cement. The object of the inventor of this apparatus was to 
obtain the sublimate in the form of a finely pulverulent snowy 
mass, and this was obtained by adding about one tenth per cent. 
of water to the crude material before sublimation. After an 
operation was finished the apparatus was allowed to remain 


* Oil and Drug News, March 7, 1882. 


CAMPHOR. 339 


undisturbed overnight, to become sufficiently cool, and the next 
day the sublimed camphor was removed and subjected in moulds 
to a pressure of 25001bs. per square inch in an hydraulic press. 
The finished product was obtained in small cakes highly com- 
pressed weighing one ounce. This description, forming part of a 
paper read before the German Technical Society of Philadelphia, 
adds that “ the refining of camphor until within the past few years 
was conducted in quite as primitive a manner as the preparation 
of the crude product,’ and as a description of the European 
method is then given, it is to be presumed that the Philadelphia 
method is the superior oue. 

The European method is as follows :—The crude camphor is 
broken up and mixed with about three per cent. of quick-lime and 
the same quantity of animal charcoal, both in powder. One or 
two per cent. of iron filings is added, and the mixture, after being 
thoroughly blended, is introduced through a funnel into a series 
of globular glass flasks with slightly flattened bottoms and wide 
necks. When the flasks are about half full, the necks are care- 
fully freed from particles that might have attached themselves, and 
they are then sunk in a sand-bath, 50 or 100 together, and heat 
cautiously applied. The heat is suddenly raised from 120° to 
190° C., and kept at that point for half an hour, so as to expel the 
water. The temperature is then raised to 204° C., and maintained 
at that point for 24 hours. When the crude camphor has melted, 
the sand is removed from the upper half of each of the flasks and 
a paper cork placed in the neck. This allows of a lower tempera- 
ture in the exposed part, and the vapour of camphor not being 
permitted to escape condenses on the upper part of the flask as a 
pure cake, leaving all impurities at the bottom. Air, if freely 
admitted, would render the camphor opaque, but that is prevented 
by placing a glass bell-jar over the neck of each flask just as the 
vapour begins to be given off. The whole process lasts about 
48 hours, and when completed the flasks are removed from the 
sand-bath and cold water sprinkled on them. They are thus 
broken, and a large cake of refined camphor 10 or 12 inches in 
diameter and 3 inches thick (weighing 9 to 12 lbs.) is removed 
from each flask. The quick-lme retains the resin or empyreu- 
matic oil; the iron fixes any sulphur that may be present, and the 


charcoal removes colouring-matter. Sand is sometimes mixed 
Z2 


340 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


with the crude camphor to allow of a more uniform escape of 
vapour, and thus save “ bumping” or the sudden evolution of con- 
fined volumes of vapour. During the operation the temperature 
must be maintained uniformly at the point of volatilization. The 
process requires great care, for in addition to the very inflammable 
nature of the vapour, if too much heat be applied, the sublimate 
would re-melt and fall back again to the bottom of the flask; and 
if the heat be not great enough the camphor sublimes in loose 
flakes instead of a compact cake. After breaking the flasks, the 
giass fragments have to be carefully separated by hand from the 
adhering camphor. 

Another process consists in subliming the camphor mixed with 
the other ingredients in any convenient vessel furnished with a 
large and well-cooled receiver and re-melting the product in close 
vessels under pressure, cooling the liquid mass as rapidly as pos- 
sible. In this case the operation cannot be so conveniently watched, 
involving a difficulty in regulating the heat, and the condenser 
must be made of some material not subject to rust in order that 
the product may not be contaminated. 

Camphor forms a white, tough, semi-crystalline solid mass which 
can only be powdered when moistened with alcohol or some other 
solvent. It dissolves in 1300 parts of water at 20° C., and at 
12° C. in 0°8 part of alcohol of sp. gr. 0°806. It is readily soluble 
in ether, acetone, chloroform, benzene, and other hydrocarbons, 
also in glacial acetic acid and in carbon disulphide. It melts at 
175° C., and boils at 204° C., but volatilizes very rapidly at the 
ordinary temperature, and sublimes when kept in close vessels in 
lustrous hexagonal crystals which frequently form splendid stars. 
A fragment of pure camphor placed on a heated spoon or ina 
warm situation will wholly disappear, and if the sample be quite 
pure the evolved fumes are fragrant and quite free from acid or 
terebinthinate odour. As a test distinguishing natural camphor 
‘from artificial camphor,—ammonia gives but a slight precipitate 
in an alcoholic solution of natural camphor, and this precipitate is 
dissolved on shaking the mixture; a similar solution of artificial 
camphor under the like treatment gives a flocculent precipitate 
which remains undissolved. Another distinguishing test is the 
application of polarized light :—If small fragments of natural and 
artificial camphor be placed separately on glass slides, and a drop 
of alcohol added to each, they dissolve and speedily re-crystallize. 


CAMPHOR. 341 


If the crystallization of the natural camphor is watched by means 
of the microscope and polarized light, a most beautiful display of 
coloured crystals is seen, while with the artificial product nothing 
of the kind is witnessed *. 

Pinene hydrochloride or Pinyl chloride, C,)H,;Cl, was discovered 
in 1803 and described as artificial camphor +. This hydrochloride 
of oil of turpentine, or terpene monohydrochloride as it was sub- 
sequently called, is obtained by passing dry hydrochloric acid into 
French oil of turpentine { diluted with carbon disulphide § or 
benzene || ; according to Wallach these diluents are superfluous, it 
being only necessary to avoid the presence of any trace of water 
and to prevent the temperature rising. Pinyl chloride is a erystal- 
line mass which appears and smells like camphor; it is deposited 
from alcoholic solution in feathery crystals which possess the un- 
pleasant property of welding to a viscous mass, which adheres 
firmly to all objects with which it comes in contact. It melts at 
125° and boils at 210°. 

Camphene may be readily obtained by heating equal parts cf 
pinyl chloride and anhydrous sodium acetate to 200° for three or 
four hours with twice the weight of glacial acetic acid or by 
simply heating a mixture of pinyl bromide and glacial acetic acid 
for some time in a flask connected with an inverted condenser 4. 
It forms a crystalline mass resembling paraffin, of a smell which is 
considered to resemble a mixture of turpentine and camphor. 

Camphoric acid, C\)H,,O,. According to Wreden **, 150 grams 
of camphor and 2 litres of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1:27) are brought 
into flasks of 4 litres capacity, a conducting-tube for the nitrous 
fumes being fastened in the neck by means of plaster-of- Paris. 
The mixture is heated on a briskly-boiling water-bath until the 
vapours are only slightly coloured, the operation lasting about 
50 hours. The product is then converted into the sodium salt and 
this once re-crystallized. About 725 to 800 grams of pure cam- 
phoric acid are obtained from 1500 grams of camphor. It is 


* Silliman’s Journal, May 1851. 

+ Trommsdorff’s ‘Journal of Pharmacy,’ xi. 2. p. 13 
{ Pogg. Ann. xxii. p. 89. 

§ Ann. Chim. Phys. [3] xl. p. 5. 

|| Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xii. p. 1131. 

4, Bull. Soc. Chim. cexxxix. p. 6. 

** Ann, Chem. Pharm. clxiii. p. 323. 


ts 


342 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


readily soluble in alcoho]; 100 parts of water dissolve 0°625 at 
12° and 10 parts at the boiling-point. It crystallizes in small 
plates melting at 178°. 

Camphorophone, C,H,,0O, is formed when camphor is heated to 
100° with sulphuric acid *, It is an aromatic liquid, boiling at 
about 210°, and is considered identical with Jsophrone—obtained, 
together with other products, by the dry distillation of cane- or 
grape-sugar with lime+. The Phorone which is formed by heating 
acetone with lime or sodium also appears to be camphorophone ¢. 

Bornyl acetate is formed when Borneol is heated to 150° with 
acetic anhydride. It is a thick pleasant-smelling liquid which 
boils at 227° and crystallizes on standing for some time in masses 
which melt at 24°. 

Bornyl formate and Bornyl valerate have been prepared, and 
according to Haller § the borneol separated from these ethers is 
identical with Ngai camphor. 

Borneo camphor (Borneol, or Bornyl] alcohol) can be artificially 
prepared by heating an alcoholic solution of ordinary camphor with 
sodium ||, the following method being employed :—“ Fifty grammes 
of ordinary camphor are dissolved in 500 cb. ems. of alcohol of 
96 per cent. in a capacious flask, fitted with a wide reversed con- 
denser, through which 60 grms. of sodium are gradually added in 
small pieces. The operation must last about an hour and the rise 
of temperature not be prevented by cooling; it is even advisable 
to accelerate the completion of the reaction by finally adding about 
50 grms. of water, the mixture being well agitated during this 
process. The product js then poured into 3 or 4 litres of cold 
water, the separated borneol collected on a filter cloth, well washed, 
and crystallized from petroleum ether after drying 4. 

According to Berthelot **, Borneo camphor can be prepared 
artificially by heating common camphor with alcoholic potash ; its 
formation being attended either with evolution of oxygen or with 
simultaneous production of camphic acid. ‘The action takes place 

* Jahresb. Chem., 1857, p. 483; Ann. Chem. Pharm. exxiii. p. 298. 

+ Ann. Chem. Pharm. xv. p. 278, and ibid. c. p. 353 & elxii. p. 303. 

{ Ibid. cx. p. 32; exii. p. 309; & exi. p. 279. 

§ Compt. Rend. ciii. p. 151. 

\| Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xvi. p. 2930 ; ibid. xviii. Ref. p. 335; ibid. xvii. 
p. L036 

] Wallach, Ann, Chem. Pharm. ccexxx. p. 225, 

** Ann. Ch. Phys. (3) lvi. p. 78. 


CAMPHOR. 343 


slowly at 100° C., more quickly at higher temperatures in sealed 
tubes. 

Although the Chinese make large use of “ ordinary camphor” 
produced in Japan and Formosa, they attach a much higher value 
to the camphor obtained in Sumatra and Borneo from the Dryo- 
banalops aromatica, Gertner (D. camphora, Colebrooke). 

Attention was drawn by Daniel Hanbury * to a third kind of 
camphor, standing intermediate in value between the two above- 
mentioned descriptions, that is to say :-— 


When the Formosan camphor was worth $25 per pecul (1334 lbs.), 


the Japan Bs - 30 Fe 
the Ngai BS a 250 33 
the Malay, Ist quality ag 2000 = 

2 2nd » ” 1000 » 


This Ngai camphor is closely allied to the rare Malay camphor, 
being identical in chemical composition and very similar in odour, 
and yet now and from time immemorial the Chinese appreciate the 
Malay camphor enormously higher than the Ngai which grows in 
their own country. 

The Ngai camphor is produced by the Blumea balsamifera, D.C. 
(Coniza bulsamifera, Linn.), a very large, herbaceous, or bushy 
member of the Compositz. 1t is figured in Oliver’s ‘Icones Plan- 
tarum’ for April 1891, tab. 1957. 

This species is a native of India from the Himalayas southwards ; 
it is common throughout the Eastern Himalaya at altitudes ranging 
from 1000 to 4000 feet. It occurs in the Khasia Hills, in Chitta- 
gong and Pegu, and extends to Singapore and the Indian Archi- 
pelago. It is a wonderfully common weed in Burmah and Assam, 
and is distributed throughout the Eastern peninsula to China. It 
occurs at Hainan and Kwangtung and on the coast of Formosa. 
The crude product is known to the Chinese as Ngai-fén. It is 
refined at Canton, and is then known as Ngai-p-ien, or refined 
camphor, about 10,000 lbs. of which are annually exported from 
thence. It is also exported from the port of Hoihow in Hainan 
to the extent of about 15,000 lbs. annually. 

The abundance of the plant in Burmah is mentioned by Mr. 
Thiselton Dyer in the ‘ Journal of the Linnean Society’ (Bot.), xx. 


* Pharm. Journ. [3] iv. p. 709, 


344 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


p- 414; and Hanbury, who has described this camphor (‘ Science 
Papers,’ p. 394), mentions that a crude form of the drug is pre- 
pared in Burmah. 

The properties of Ngai camphor are referred to in ‘ Neues 
Repert. fiir Pharmacie, xxii. p. 325, and the observations of 
Plowman on this subject * are hereafter abstracted. | 

In the crude state this camphor appears in the form of greyish- 
white crystalline grains intermixed with fragments of vegetable 
tissue. By sublimation it crystallizes in the same brilliant distinct 
form as Borneo camphor; it has the same chemical composition, 
odour, and density as the latter, being rather heavier than water and 
not volatilizing quite so quickly as common camphor. Ngai cam- 
phor does not appear to come into the European markets at all. 
In China it is used medicinally and in the preparation of some of 
the finer kinds of ‘‘ Chinese ink,” to which it imparts the peculiar 
perfume thought by some to resemble patchouli and ambergris. 
It is probable that camphors are obtained from two or three species 
of Blumea in Burmah, as there is a variety called Bang Phien, also 
used in the manufacture of scented ink, which forms crystalline 
masses saturated with a greenish oil, and has a still more powerful 
odour than ordinary Ngai; or possibly a Ngai may be obtained 
from some other plant which is not a Blumea at all, the native 
character for the word Ngai being used to designate several plants 
including both Labiatz and Composite +. 

The chemistry of this camphor has been studied by Plowman {, 
who found it to be isomeric with Borneo camphor, that is to say, 
possessing the same elements in the same centesimal proportions, 
the same number of atoms in the molecule and the same chemical 
constitution, byt much more volatile, perceptibly different in odour, 
and of somewhat greater hardness and brittleness. Under the 
microscope the Borneo and Ngai camphor crystals were found to 
resemble each other in a remarkable degree, so as to render it 
impossible to give any characters by which they could be distin- 
guished one from the other. They were principally of the pyra- 
midal form with a varying number of sides, generally truncated, 
but sometimes perfect, then appearing as the halves of octahedra, 
while a few seemed to belong to the doubly oblique prismatic 
system. The same observer remarks that the sublimate of laurel 

* Pharm. Journ. [3] iv. pp. 710, 712. 
+ Ibid. iv. p. 709. + Ibid. p. 710, 


CAMPHOR. 345 


camphor, when viewed microscopically, was found to consist of 
masses of six-sided tabular crystals with a few six-sided prisms 
scattered amongst them. Their volatility was so marked that even 
while under the microscope they lost the sharpness of their angles 
and soon degenerated into ill-defined masses. He found the sp. 
gr. of the three sorts of camphor (after exposure in vacuo to remove 
interstitial and adherent air) to be as follows :— 


Laurel camphor . . . 0°995 
Ngai x3 Scop hae 


Borneo __,, si » Seed 


(Unless deprived of adherent air both the Borneo and Ngai 
camphors will swim on water and turn on it in the same way as 
common camphor.) 

The melting-point of each was found by introducing a small 
quantity into a thin narrow tube, sealing one extremity and im- 
mersing in melted paraffin, then gradually heating till the little 
column of camphor became transparent and noting the temperature 
of the surrounding paraftin; by so dcing the mean of the melting- 
and solidifying-points was found to be 177°C. for the laurel cam- 
phor, 204° C. for the Ngai, and 206° C. for the Borneo. 

The physical characters of the three varieties of camphor were 
subsequently studied by Professor Fliickiger *. He observed that 
crystals of common camphor appear in forms belonging to the 
hexagonal system, as previously shown by Des Cloiseaux +, and 
they exhibit in polarized light brilliant colours like other crystals 
not belonging to the cubic system. This is easily demonstrated by 
examining a clear splinter of ordinary camphor under the polari- 
zing microscope. or by melting a little camphor between two slips 
of glass and examining it in the same way. According to Des 
Cloiseaux ¢ the crystals of Borneo camphor derived from Dryo- 
banalops belong to the cubic system, an observation confirmed 
by Fliickiger, who adds that they display no action on polarized 
light when examined in the way above described; regular cubes 
and all allied forms being devoid of that optical power. Crystals 
of Ngai camphor examined by means of the polarizing microscope 
proved likewise to belong to the cubic system. 

* Pharm. Journ. [3] iv. p. 829. 


+ “Etudes du Camphre ordinaire,” Comptes Rendus, 1859, p. 1064, 
t Ibid. 1870, p. 1209, and Pogg. Annalen, 1870, p. 302. 


846 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


An alcoholic solution of common camphor turns the plane of 
polarization to the right hand, a similar solution of Borneo cam- 
phor also possesses a dextrogyre power but little inferior in degree, 
but on examining a solution of Ngai camphor in the same way 
Professor Fliickiger found a marked difference: it deviates the 
ray of polarized light to the left hand, being as much levogyre as 
the solution of Borneo camphor is dextrogyre. 

In 1856 Jeanjean* examined the product of the fermentation 
of the sugar contained in Madder, Rubia tinctorum, Linn. From 
the fusel-oil which distilled over with the aleohol produced by this 
fermentation, he separated out a camphor having the composition 
of Borneo camphor, but possessing exactly the same lzvo-rotatory 
power as Ngai camphor. That chemist examined the nature of 
the crystals of Rubia camphor, and by boiling them for a short time 
with nitric acid he obtained the compound C,)H,,O, agreeing in 
composition with Laurel camphor, but differing from it by its 
alcoholic solution deviating the ray of polarized light as much to 
the left- as that of Laurel camphor does to the right-hand. 

Operating in the same way on Ngai camphor, Fliickiger obtained 
crystals which were entirely devoid of the peculiar odour of Ngai 
and rather reminding of ordinary camphor. Its alcoholic solution 
was leevogyre, and the polarizing microscope proved the crystals 
did not belong to the same system as their mother substance; they 
displayed brilliant colours, showing that there was no longer any 
question of the cubic system. 

It has been observed by Chautard + that oil of Feverfew (Chry- 
santhemum Parthenium, Pers.), on cooling, or by treating it with 
nitric acid, yields a levogyre camphor, C,9H,,0, which is in all 
probability identical with Rubia camphor. 

Jeanjean found{ that when Rubia camphor is distilled with 
phosphoric anhydride or chloride of zine, it yields a hydrocarbon 
resembling oil of lemon or Bergamot. 

The exhaustive researches of Professor Fliickiger conclusively 
prove that the camphor C,)H,,O obtained by oxidizing the Malay 
camphor is absolutely identical with ordinary camphor ; the cry- 
stals after washing and drying, being examined under the polariz- 
ing-microscope, proved most brilliantly not to belong to the cubic 

* Comptes Rendus, xli. p. 857, and Ann. Chem. Pharm. ci. p. 94. 


+ Journ. de Pharm. xliv. p. 22. 
t Ann. Chem. Pharm. ci. p. 94. 


CAMPHOR. O47 


system but to the hexagonal, and, as he says, the microscope thus 
enables us to demonstrate very manifestly the transformation of 
the optically indifferent crystals of Dryobanalops camphor into 
Laurel camphor, even in the smallest fragment. 

Oil of camphor is a bye-product in the preparation of camphor 
in Japan. When the branches of Laurus Camphora are distilled 
with water, the oi] volatilizes over and is condensed with the cam- 
phor. It is collected separately, and a further quantity drains off 
from the packages in which the crude camphor is put up. 

A Paper on the subject of camphor oil was communicated to the 
British Pharmaceutical Conference by Mr. John Moss, in which 
analytical results of a number of samples were given, showing the 
oil to be of a very variable nature. A Paper was also communi- 
cated to the Chemical Society by Mr. Yoshida, a Japanese chemist*, 
who showed that the oil consists of two hydrocarbons boiling at 
150° C. and 172-178° C., about 25 per cent. of camphor and an 
oxygenated oil, camphorogenol, which, through the influence of 
heat and oxidation, changes into camphor, thus accounting for the 
deposition of camphor in the oil through age. 

A Paper describing observations on numerous samples of this oil 
was read at the Meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference in 
1887 by Mr. P. MacEwan, from which it may be gathered that great 
range of quality was apparent in the samples—some being almost 
colourless, others very dark and varying greatly in their physical 
characters. In the discussion on Mr. Moss’s paper referred to, it 
transpired, on the evidence of Mr. Yoshida, that the dark colora- 
tion of some samples was the result of heat, or partial carboniza- 
tion during distillation, they being in fact “ residues.” 

It appears that at present (also in 1887) immense quantities of 
crude camphor-oil are imported into Europe, principally to 
Germany. It is then refined, the camphor being separated by a 
freezing process, and the lighter oil (sp. gr. 0°910) distilled off and 
sold for making varnishes, drying paints, mixing with soaps, as a 
protective for leather against insects, and other purposes. The 
heavier oil (sp. gr. 0°970, boiling between 240°-300° C.) is said to 
much resemble the natural oil of sassafras, and is also used as a 
perfume for soap. After safrol has been separated from it a cer- 
tain quantity of eugenol (identical with the heavy portion of oil of 
cloves) is obtainable. Heavy camphor-oil is of a pale green colour 


* Journ. Chem. Soc., Oct. 1885, p. 779. 


348 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


and, although volatile, of oily consistence. It inflames with great 
difficulty and, like all essential oils, has a powerful antiseptic and 
disinfectant action. Its peculiar power of dissolving resins of all 
kinds, as well as india-rubber, gives it the power of making var- 
nishes smooth and flexible without seriously injuring their drying 
qualities. It is also excellently suited for covering the strong smell 
of mineral oil, and on account of its very low price is useful for 
perfuming any preparations which have an unpleasant smell. 

Oil of Borneo Camphor or Borneene is a liquid hydrocarbon 
isomeric with oil of turpentine, secreted by the Dryobanalops Cam- 
phora; it is obtained by tapping or felling the trees. It is recorded 
that from a tree felled in the Island of Lebua about 5 gallons of 
oil were removed from a cavity scooped in the trunk *, ‘This oil 
holds in solution a resin and a solid camphor, Borneol. By frac- 
tional distillation the oil can be separated into two portions, one 
lighter than the other, but both of like composition. 

Borneene can be obtained by distilling the wood of Dryobanalops 
Camphora with water. The distillate can be fractionated into two 
oils, one boiling between 180° and 190° C., the other at 260°. A 
resin can also be separated which melts at a temperature a little 
above 100° C. 

Borneene is formed when Borneol is gently heated with phos- 
phorie anhydride. It can also be obtained from essential oil of 
valerian by submitting that oil to fractional distillation and heating 
the first portions of the distillate with potassium hydrate, which 
takes up valerol while Borneene passes as a distillate. 

Planks are sawn from the finest parts of the wood and used for 
making chests, which are useful by reason of their strong odour 
for preserving furs and clothes from moth. 


* F. & H., Hist. des Drogues, ii. p, 260, 


CAJEPUT, 349 


CHAPTER XVI. 
CAJEPUT.—LAVENDER.—ROSEMARY. 


CaAJEPUT. 


O1t of Cajeput is distilled from the leaves of several species of 
Melaleuca, myrtaceous shrubs or trees abundant in the Indian 
Archipelago, the Malay peninsula, Northern Australia, Queens- 
land, and New South Wales. The bulk of the oil commercially 
dealt in is shivped from Batavia and Singapore and yielded by the 
Melaleuca minor, Smith *, and was designated by Rumphius, who 
passed fifty years in the Dutch East-Indian possessions, as Arbor 
alba minor, to distinguish it from other closely allied trees which 
are also called in the East Indies Kaya-pootie (white wood) +. 
Its other native names are Dawn-Kilsjil and Caju-Kilan. It is 
described by Roxburgh { under the name Melaleuca Cajuputi. 
Melaleuca minor forms a tolerably erect tree, but crooked and 
slender ; the bark is very light or whitish ash colour and smooth, 
the exterior bark peeling off from time to time in thin flakes like 
that of the birch-tree, and the interior part separable into numerous 
lamine like the leaves of a book. The branches are scattered, with 
the slender twigs often drooping as completely as in the willow, 
round and smooth and, when young, silky. The leaves are alternate, 
projecting in every direction, but most frequently vertical, short- 
stalked, narrow-lanceolate ; while young, silky, when full grown, 
smooth, deep green, from 3 to 5 inches long and from half to 
three-quarters of an inch broad ; very aromatic when bruised. The 
white globular flowers are borne on terminal spikes; while in 


* Rees’ Cyclo. xxiii. p. 2; DeC. Prodr. iii. p. 212; Mueller in Benth. Flora 
Australiensis, 11. p. 142; Bentley & Trimen, Med. Plants, t. 108. 

+ Rumph. Amb. ii. p. 72, t. 16. 

¢ Flor. Ind, iii. p. 594. 


3850 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


flower there is a scaly conic bud at the apex, which soon advances 
into a leafy branchlet. 

This tree was included by Linnzus in his species Melaleuca 
Leucadendron, a taller tree with a thick, spongy, black bark, which 
detaches itself in flakes ; its branches, however, are white; no 
doubt the derivation of the word Medaleuca is to be attributed to 
this strange appearance, éAas meaning black and Aeveos white. 
The form and texture of the leaves of M. Leucadendron are very 
variable, as is also the colour of its flowers. It does not yield so 
much essential oil as the M. minor ; but both oils are very similar 
in character and hardly to be distinguished. 

The distillation is conducted in a primitive way and the oil put 
up in beer bottles. 

The oil has a very powerful aroma, reminding of a mixture 
of camphor, cardamoms, and turpentine. The sp. gr. of oil of 
cajeput at 15°°5 C. has been found by West *, on examination of 
14 samples obtained from different sources, to be 0°922 to 0-924. 
In taking the sp. gr. of this oil, it is important to take accurate 
note of the temperature, in consequence of the high expansion- 
equivalent of the oil, which has been found by Cripps + to be 
‘0009 for each degree Centigrade between 13° C. and 23° C. The 
boiling-point of the 14 samples above mentioned was found to be 
174° to 174°°5 C., and copper was detected in all of them. It is 
generally supposed that the pale greenish tinge in oil of cajuput is 
necessarily the result of copper, acquired by contamination with 
the metal of the still, but it has been ascertained that recently- 
distilled cil has a natural and beautiful green tint. 

Professor Tichomirow { examined oil of cajuput spectroscopically 
and satisfied himself that the green colour of a sample that had 
been demonstrated to be free from copper was due to the presence 
of chlorophyllan, or oxidized chlorophyll. As the green colour 
due to chlorophylian may in old oils change to brown, it is probable 
that oil is kept for a time in copper vessels that it may become 
impregnated with the metal, with the intention of causing it to 
retain its beautiful natural colour. Copper may be detected by 
agitating the oil with dilute hydrochloric acid, pouring the liquid 
into a platinum capsule and inserting a slip of zinc ; if copper be 


* Pharm. Journ. [5] xix. p. 235. + Ibid. p. 415. 
{ Pharm. Zeit. f. russl., Aug. 1888, p. 548. 


CAJEPUT. 851 


present, it immediately forms a deposit on platinum. The liquid 
can then be decanted, the copper dissolved and identified by 
reagents. 

Rectified oil is colourless, but acquires the green colour after 
being a short time in contact with metallic copper. 

All genuine cajeput oil of the Moluccas, Malacca, and India are 
optically levogyre ; several of the Australian cajeput oils are dex- 
trogyre in their action on polarized light. 

Schmidl found * that oil of cajeput consists mainly of di-hydrate 
of cajuputene, C,)H,,+2H,0, which can be extracted from the 
erude oil by fractional distillation between 174° and 178° C.; smaller 
fractions, perhaps products of decomposition, are obtained from 
178° to 250°, at which temperature only a small residue of carbo- 
naceous matter is left in the still, mixed with metallic copper. On 
treating this residue with ether, a green solution is obtained which, 
when evaporated, leaves a green resin soluble in the fraction which 
boils between 174° and 178° and capable of restoring the original 
colour. 

When the di-hydrate is heated to the boiling-point and sulphuric 
acid added by degrees, it becomes coloured, and on fractional dis- 
tillation there passes over, between 170° and 175°, the mono- 
hydrate, C,)H;,+ H,O. 

When the di-hydrate is cohobated with phosphoric anhydride 
for half an hour and distilled, there passes over at 160°-165° the 
hydrocarbon cajuputene, C,)H,,, which is a colourless liquid pos- 
sessing the odour of hyacinths; it is insoluble in alcohol, but 
soluble in ether and in oil of turpentine; its sp. gr. at 15° C. 
is 0°850. It is permanent in the air. With gaseous hydrochloric 
acid it forms a beautiful violet liquid. On continuing the distil- 
lation two isomeric hydrocarbons pass over, iso-cajuputene at 176°— 
178° and para-cajuputene at 310°-316°. 

Chloride of cajuputene, C,)H,.Cl,, is produced by the action of 
nascent chlorine on the di-hydrate (the rectified oil of cajuput). 
When the portion of the oil distilling between 174°-178° is mixed 
with very dilute nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid gas is passed 
into the liquid, a violent action takes place in a few minutes, 
chlorine and nitrous gas being evolved, and if the passage of the 
hydrochloric acid gas is continued, chloride of cajuputene ulti- 


* Trans. Roy. Soc. Ed. xxii. (6) p. 360, and Journ. Chem. Soe. xiv. p. 63. 


352 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


mately sinks to the bottom as a limpid brown oil which may be 
freed from adhering nitric and nitrous acid by distillation over 
strong potash-lye. It has a pungent odour and may be kept with- 
out alteration for any length of time, but is decomposed by dis- 
tillation. 

According to the researches of Voiry *, a sample of green oil of 
cajeput examined by him presented considerable analogy to oil of 
Eucalyptus globulus ; on fractional distillation two thirds passed 
over between 175° and 180° C. Below that temperature were 
obtained butyric, valerianic, and benzylic aldehydes, also a levo- 
gyre terpene, C,)Hy,, that formed a crystalline monohydrochlorate, 
After 180° the distillation was continued at reduced pressure, and 
there was separated, amongst other bodies, a small fraction of 
terpineol, C,)H,;. OH, identical with borneol, in the solid form. 
This body has since been obtained by Messrs. Schimmel (April, 
1892) from the fraction of cajeput oil boiling between 215° and 
220° C., by means of cooling in a refrigerating mixture of solid 
carbonic acid and ether. The terpineol thus obtained crystallizes 
at ordinary temperatures, its melting-point after several crystalli- 
zations being from 33° to 34° C. 

Melaleuca viridifoliat. Synonymous with M. leucodendron 
angustifolia, Lin, fil.t; Metrosideros quinquenervia, Cav.§; Metro- 
sideros coriacea, Poir.|| ; Metrosideros albida, Siebl.{| A native 
of New South Wales and New Caledonia; it attaims a height of 
20 feet and bears pale greenish flowers. The oil distilled from its 
leaves in New Caledonia is locally called Niawli. The physical 
properties of this oil do not appear to have been examined. 

The following Australian oils of cajeput are mentioned in 
Maiden’s ‘ Useful Native Plants of Australia,’ and samples of them 
were exhibited at the London Exhibition of 1862, but they do not 
appear to have any commercial demand in England :— 

Melaleuca decussata, R. Brown ; dark yellow; resembles cajeput 
in taste and odour ; yield, about 2 per cent.; sp. gr. 0°958 ; 
boiling-point 185°-209°. This shrub is only 3 to 6 feet 
in height ** ; it is found in Victoria and South Australia ; 


* Journ. Pharm. Chim. Aug, 1888, p. 149. 

+ Geertn, Fruct. i. p. 173, t. 35. t Suppl. 342. 

§ Icon. iv. t. 33. || Suppl. 1. p. 365. 

q Pl. exsic. Noy. Holl. p. 349. ** Ait. Hort. Kew. p. 415. 


CAJEPUT. 353 
flowers lilac. A coloured figure is given in the ‘ Botanical 
Magazine,’ t. 2268. 

AM. ericifolia, Smith; bright yellow ; resembles cajeput in taste 
and odour; yield, 5 ozs. of oil from 1000 Ibs. of leaves ; 
sp. gr. 0°899-0°902; boiling-point 149°-184°. Rotation 
+ 26° (Gladstone) ; shrub of 4 to 6 feet in height; native 
of New South Wales and found in all parts of the Colony 
except West Australia; flowers pale yellow *. 

M. genistifolia, Smith +; yellowish green; mild odour and 
taste; 100 lbs. of leaves are said to yield 10 ozs. 2 dr. of 
oil. Native of New South Wales, where it is called by the 
English “ White tea tree ” ; occurs also in North Australia. 
This shrub varies in height from 6 to 20 feet ; its flowers 
have reddish petals and yellow stamens. 

M. linarifolia, Smith ¢ ; a bright yellow limpid oil with pleasant 
cajeput-like odour and agreeable mace-like taste, with an 
after-taste reminding of mint; sp. gr. 0°903 ; boiling-point 
175°-187°. Yield, according to Bosisto, 28 ozs. per 100 lbs. 
of leaves ; rotation + 11° (Gladstone). This tree is synony- 
mous with Metrosideros hyssopifolia, Cavanilles§. It isa 
native of New South Wales and Queensland; it attains a 
height of 20 or 30 feet ; flowers cream-coloured ||. 

M. squarrosa, Smith; green, in very small quantity, and 
(according to Bosisto) of unpleasant taste. This tree 
attains a height of from 20 to 40 feet; it is found in South 
Australia, Victoria, New S. Wales, and Tasmania. Flowers 
yellowish. It is figured in Curtis’ ‘ Botanical Magazine,’ 
t. 1935. 

M. Wilsonii, F. von Mueller; a bright yellow oil very similar to 
cajeput; sp. gr. 0-925; 100 lbs. of fresh leaves yield 4.0zs. 
of oil. Native of Victoria and South Australia. 

M. uncinata, R. Brown ** ; a green oil; sp. gr. 0°925; optical 
rotation +1° 40’. The principal part distils between 175° 
and 180°C. The lowest boiling fraction possesses a decided 
Spike or Rosemary odour. The second fraction has a pure 


* Smith, Exot. Bot. i. t. 34. f Ibid. i. t.,55. 

{ Ibid. t. 56. § Icones Plantarum, iv. t. 356. f. 1. 
| See F. Mueller in Bentham’s ‘ Flora Australiensis,’ iii. p. 140, 

| Linn. Trans. vi. p. 300. ** Ait. Hort. Kew. iv. p. 414. 


2A 


854 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


odour of Cineol, which is the most important constituent 
of the oil. The highest boiling portion probably consists 
of Terpineol*. The shrub is found in South and West 
Australia, New Zealand, and Queensland; in height it is 
only about 4 to 6 feet; its flowers are yellowish. 

M. leucadendron var. lancifolia, ike common cajeput oil it 
consists mainly of Cineol ; has a sp. gr. of 0955 and rotates 
polarized light 3° 38’ to the left +. 

M. acuminata. Colourless oil, of an odour slightly resembling 
that of Juniper berries; sp. gr. 0°892; optical rotation 
—15° 20’; contains a considerable quantity of Cineol {. 


LAVENDER §. 


The general aspect of the various species which compose this 
genus of labiate plants, although presenting very characteristic 
differences, merges gradually from one species to another ; all are, 
in their native habitat, small ligneous undershrubs, from 1 to 2 feet 
in height, with a thin bark, which detaches itself in scales; the 
leaves are linear, persistent (until the stems become woody), and 
covered with numerous hairs, which give the plant a hoary 
appearance. The most commonly known species are Lavandula 
vera, L. spica, and L. Stechas. 

Commercially the Z. vera is the most valuable by reason of the 
superior delicacy of its perfume; it is found on the sterile hills 
and stony declivities at the foot of the Alps of Provence, the lower 
Alps of Dauphiné and Cevannes (growing in some places at an 
altitude of 4500 feet above the sea-level), also northwards, in — 
exposed situations, as far as Monton, near Lyons, but not beyond 
the 46th degree of latitude; in Piedmont as far as Tarantaise, and 
in Switzerland, in Lower Vallais, near Nyon, in the Canton of 
Vaud, and at Vuilly. It has been gathered between Nice and 
Cosni, in the neighbourhood of Limoné, on the elevated slopes of 
the mountains of Western Liguria, and in Etruria on hills near 
the sea. 


* Schimmel, April 1892. + Ibid. { Ibid. 
§ Abstracted and revised from the Author's original articles in ‘ The Chemist 
and Druggist,’ Feb. 28 and Mar. 21, 1891. 


LAVENDER. 355 


The L. spica, which is the only species besides Z. vera hardy in 
this country, was formerly considered only a variety of L. vera. 
It is distinguished by its lower habit; much whiter colour; the 
leaves more congested at the base of the branches, more persistent ; 
the spikes denser and shorter; the floral leaves lanceolate or linear; 
and the presence of linear and subulate bracts. L. spica yields by 
distillation an oil termed “ oil of spike,” or, to distinguish it from 
oil of L. Stechas, “true oil of spike.” It is darker in colour than 
the oil of Z. vera, and much less grateful in odour, reminding of 
turpentine and rancid cocoa-nut oil. It is used by painters on 
porcelain and in the manufacture of varnishes; it is often largely 
admixed with oil of turpentine. 

L. Stechas (Xtvyas) was discovered prior to the year 50 a.p. in 
the Steechades Islands (now the Islands of Hyéres, south of 
Toulon), hence the name. At present it is found wild in the 
South of Europe and North of Africa, also at Teneriffe. Its leaves 
are oblong linear, about half an inch long in the wild state and 
fully an inch long when cultivated, with revolute edges, and 
clothed with hoary tomentum on both surfaces; the spike is tetra- 
gonal, compact, with a tuft of purple leaves at the top; the calyces 
are ovate and slightly shorter than the tube of the corolla. The 
whole plant has a strong aromatic and agreeable flavour. There 
is a variety of this species (L. macrostachya), native of Corsica, 
Sicily, and Naples, which has broader leaves and thicker octagonal 
spikes. 

LL. Stechas is known in Spain as “ Romero Santo”? (Holy Rose- 
mary). Its essential oil (also that of L. dentata) is there extracted 
for household use, by suspending the fresh flowering stalks, flowers 
downwards, in closed bottles and exposing them for some time in 
the sun’s rays ; a mixture of water and essential oil collects at the 
bottom, which is used as a hemostatic and for cleansing wounds. 
The sp. gr. of Spanish oil of L. Stechas is 0°942 at 15° C. It boils 
between 180° and 245° C. The odour of this oil is not at all sug- 
gestive of that of lavender, but resembles more that of rosemary, 
possessing also the camphoraceous odour of that oil. In India 
this oil is much prized as an expectorant and antispasmodic. 

The other species which are distinctly characterized are L. pe- 
dunculata, L. viridis, L. dentata, L. heterophylla, L. Pyrenaica, 
L. pinnata, L. coronopifolia, L. abrotanoides, L. Lawii, and 
L. multifida. The L. multifida is synonymous with L. Burmannii. 

242 


356 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


In Spain the therapeutic properties of L. dentata are alleged to 
be even more marked than in the oils of any of the other species 
of lavender. In odour this oil strongly suggests rosemary and 
camphor. Its sp. gr. is 0°926 at 15°C. It distils almost com- 
pletely between 170° and 200° C. 

Although L. Stechas was well known to the ancients, no allusion 
unquestionably referring to L. vera has been found in the writings 
of classical authors ; the earliest mention of it beg in the 12th 
century, in the writings of St. Hildegard. It was known to the 
Welsh physicians in the 13th century under the name of Liafant 
or Llafantly. 

The best variety of L. vera (and there are several, although un- 
named), imvroved by cultivation in England, presents the appear- 
ance of an evergreen undershrub of about 2 feet in height, with 
greyish-green linear leaves, rolled under at the edges when young ; 
the branches are erect and give a bushy appearance to the plant ; 
the flowers are borne on a spike composed of 6 to 10 verticillasters, 
more widely separated towards the base of the spike. In young 
plants 2 or 4 sub-spikes will branch alternately in pairs from the 
main spike; this indicates great vigour in the plant, and the 
flowering tendency is then so great that if these spikes are nipped 
off others immediately throw out. This strength rarely occurs 
after the second year of flowering. 

The floral leaves are rhomboidal, acuminate, and membranous, 
tbe upper ones being shorter than the, calyces; the bracts are 
obovate; the calyces bluish, nearly cylindrical, contracted towards 
the mouth, and ribbed with many ves. ‘The corolla is of a pale 
bluish violet, of a deeper tint on the inner surface than the outer, 
tubular, 2-lipped, the upper lip with 2 and the lower with 3 lobes. 
Both the corolla and calyx are covered with stellate hairs, amongst 
which are imbedded shining oil-glands, to which the fragrance of 
the plant is due. These glands are fractured by very slight 
pressure, and then the fragrance is perceptible, but not otherwise, 
unless it be from remnants of oil from glands previously fractured 
by handling the flower or friction of one spike against another. 

The L. vera was identified in 1541 and introduced into England 
in 1568, flourishing remarkably well under cultivation and yielding 
an oil far superior in delicacy of fragrance to that obtained from 
the wild plant, or from the same plant cultivated in any other 
country. In a favourable locality a single plant will form a bush 


LAVENDER. oor 


Fig. 12. 


L. vera, 29th July. (Natural size.) 


358 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


5 feet in diameter if not crowded by other plants and throw up 
spikes nearly 5 feet high. 

When it is remembered that north of the 50th degree of latitude 
the vine yields little but garlands of leaves, and that we should 
attempt in vain to cultivate the olive north of the 44th degree, it 
may seem strange that Lavandula vera, which is a native of about 
the same climate as these, should resist unprotected the vigorous 
frosts of this country ; even at Upsala, lat. 59° 51’ N., inthe Bo- 
tanic Garden, it merely requires the shelter of a few branches to 


Fig. 18. 


L. vera. 4 natural size. Appearance in middle of March, 


protect it in the winter; but this hardiness may be accounted for 
by several physiological reasons. Like all fruticose labiates which 
have a hard compact tissue, and contain much oily matter, the 
lavender absorbs less moisture than herbs which are soft and 
spongy, and as it always prefers a dry, calcareous, even stony soil, 
the northern cultivators find that by selecting such localities, the 
tissues of the plant take up so little water that our ordinary frosts 
do not injure it. In a northern climate the length of the days in 
summer, and the natural dryness of the air, compensates in some 


LAVENDER. 309 


measure the reduction of temperature, and the plant is matured 
only to the extent sufficient for the purpose for which it is grown. 
Perhaps the suspension of vital action during winter, which must 
be more complete in northern latitudes, as our frosts are more 
severe, tends to preserve certain plants natives of the South, for it 
is observed that all plants are more sensitive to cold when vege- 
tation is active than when it is at rest. The vine is an instance of 
this. On the other hand, when the plant is cultivated further 
south than its natural boundary, the same causes seem to exert 
their influence. Lavender is cultivated on the mountains of Yémen 
in Arabia; the humidity, increasing inversely to the latitude, com- 
pensates the exhaling force of the sun’s rays, and the elevation of 
the locality the effects of the heat. Thus is confirmed, both in 
North and South, the law of vegetable physiology observed by De 
Candolle in the temperate climates of France and published in his 
‘ Essai de Géographie Botanique,’ that “ plants can best resist the 
effects of cold in a dry atmosphere, and the effects of heat ina humid 
atmosphere.’ A mild, damp winter, like the one of 1889-90, does 
more harm than a seasonable frost, as the plants are apt to make 
green shoots prematurely, and the late frosts nip off these tender 
portions, each of which would otherwise have produced a flower- 
spike ; but the frosts of 1890-91 and of 1891-92 were so excep- 
tionally severe that English growers lost many plants. 

The stems and branches of lavender being ligneous and strong, 
are able to resist the force of the wind, and the plant thrives 
best in a perfectly open locality, where the air circulates freely ; 
the oil and resin which it contains enables it to resist the parching 
action of the wind and sun; thus on the most arid and sterile 
ground on the mountain-sides in the South, especially in Spain, 
plants of this genus flourish with more vigour in the season when 
most other vegetation is scorched up by the ardent rays of the sun. 
The L. vera seems to have a predilection for such spots. Certainly 
the plants then assume a more stunted appearance than in richer 
soil, but at the same time the perfume is stronger and sweeter ; 
the calyces become charged with oil-glands aud yield a greater 
abundance of volatile oil. Ina very moist soil the water penetrates 
too much into the tissues, detaches the bark, the plant blackens 
at the root, and a white fungus attaches to the main stem and 
lower branches ; it becomes feeble, diseased, aud dies. A rich soil 
furnishes too much nutriment, the plant grows very straggling and 


360 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


herbaceous, becomes overcharged with water relatively to its assi- 
milating and elaboratory power, especially if growing in a cold 
climate, and the equilibrium of the chemical proportion necessary 
for the formation of natural juices becomes deranged at the expense 
of the quantity and quality of the volatile oil produced. 

These facts, long ago pointed out by Linnzus, have been verified 
in England ; some years ago a disease manifested itself in most of 
the plantations, and not being understood by the growers, was not 
remedied (in fact is not generally understood and remedied at the 
present time), the acreage under cultivation decreased, and partly 
owing to this and a scarcity occasioned by a failure in the crop, 
the price of the oil rapidly rose from 50s. to 200s. per lb. ; conse- 
quently, with the continually increasing demand and the continued 
rise in price, manufacturers of lavender-water and compound per- 
fumes in which oil of lavender is a necessary ingredient commenced 
to buy the French oil, and venders of the English oil commenced 
to adulterate largely the English with the French oil. By degrees 
the French oil became almost entirely substituted, and at present 
it is difficult to purchase true English lavender-water of a quality 
equal to that vended twenty years ago, except at a few first-class 
houses. The exorbitant profits demanded by chemists and druggists 
and the incomprehensible will of the public to buy anything cheap, 
however bad, have encouraged a marvellous increase in the figures 
of the imports of French oil. 

In 1880, when the price had reached 125s. per lb., it was pointed 
out by an eminent London Firm of druggists that unless the culti- 
vation in England were extended, the price would become prohi- 
bitive ; inferior oils would be introduced into the market, and so 
destroy the popularity of this beautiful perfume. The price, still 
rising, did, in fact, induce this importation, and to this day the 
bulk of chemists and perfumers continue to use foreign oils at 
from 10s. to 18s. per lb. notwithstanding the fall in the price of 
English to 60s. (and it has been much lower). The constant 
demand, however, in America (where people still exist who will 
have things good) will yet support the price of English oil, which 
is the finest produced in any country. 

Attempts were made by a French manufacturing perfumer to 
establish a plantation in the South of France of plants taken from 
parent stems grown in England. ‘The result was, that the young 
plants deteriorated to their original condition—even in their native 


LAVENDER. 361 


habitat. The character of a plant and the character of its produce 
depend on even more than a similarity of soil and geographical 
position : it is asserted that a good judge can distinguish between 
oils produced in two adjacent fields. The difference in odour is 
very apparent between the oils produced in Hertfordshire, Surrey, 
and Sussex. 

The principal lavender-plantations of England are in the districts 
of Mitcham, Carshalton, and Beddington in Surrey, Hitchin in 
Hertfordshire, and Canterbury in Kent. The Surrey and Hert- 
fordshire plantations are situated on the outcrop of the Chalk 
which surrounds the London basin. The most suitable conditions 
of soil are found to be light brown loam over chalk, the depth of 
the loam being very slight, varying from 6 to 20 inches. Of 
course on slopes there is hardly any soil at all in some parts, and 
in some of the hollows it is as deep as 4 feet. There is often a 
thin seam of Coombe rock, of a soft, dry, pulveruleut nature, light 
brown in colour, between the loam and the cialk; this is very 
beneficial to the plant. Im selecting ground, a site should be 
chosen which slopes rather to the south or south-west. A wood 
or copse on the south-west boundary is of some advantage to ward 
off or break the force of gales which may occur in July; but in 
the autumn and winter months, the plants having been clipped, 
present little resistance to the wind. A July gale may do some 
damage ; the tall spikes wave like corn in the wind, but with such 
weight and momentum as to cause the woody branches to some- 
times split at the junction with the stem,—yet tall trees in the 
immediate vicinity are objectionable, keeping off too much light 
and air. Hedges are useful to keep off dogs, but they should be 
cropped very close and low. Walls of any, sort are very objec- 
tionable, as the wind is thrown back from them,—more dangerous 
in effect than a direct wind, which drives through the plants. 

In cleaning the ground preparatory to planting, all weeds should 
be carefully rooted out, stacked in small heaps, and burned; the 
ashes being afterwards distributed over the ground. A soil of the 
nature described is generally full of large flints ; those on or near 
the surface should be taken out, as being quite unnecessary and 
only likely to break the tools. ‘These flints can be used as found- 
ations to paths or sold; they have a marketable value for road- 
mending. It is advisable to prepare the soil previous to planting 
by trenching in a quantity of short straw and refuse from stables, 


362 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


dung mixed with straw, but not very much dung. The ashes of 
wood and cinder-ashes can be used with advantage. The ground 
should be allowed to lie fallow until the spring, when all weeds 
should be again cleared and the whole ploughed over. 

In May, according to the weather, the young plants can be 
dibbled into their places, in rows north to south, 4 feet apart and 
6 feet between the rows. Some growers plant much closer, hedge 
fashion, but it is a false economy ; the flower-bearing capacity of 
the plant is decreased, absence of light by interweaving of the 
branches stunts the growth and causes young spikes to decay pre- 
maturely ; also, if the rows are less than 5 feet apart, it becomes 
impossible to weed clean between them ; and in harvest still more 
difficult to walk between them to cut the flower and deposit it 
until enough is cut to carry up to the still. 

A stock cannot be obtained from seed, as in this country the 
plant does not mature its seed, and of course foreign seed would 
not produce the right variety. Neither should the roots of old 
plants be divided, as such a process engenders a fungoid disease in 
the root, and such plants die; but cuttings from established plants 
will freely strike between May and October; they should be of 
young growth and taken at the joint with a heel. Young shoots 
strike more readily than woody branches and produce more com- 
pact plants. They can be put 3 or 4 inches apart, snaded from 
the sun, and watered. They can be transplanted the following 
spring to their proper place. Mild, moist weather should be 
selected for putting them out. The process of roughly taking 
cuttings or clippings of branches and striking them thickly planted 
together in rows or trenches, as adopted by some growers, is about 
the worst method of propagation. Plants propagated in this way 
have to be dragged apart, tearing the bark and injuring the delicate 
roots, so inducing the fungoid disease above-mentioned on the 
wounded organs. The effect of this disease is that in July, when 
the plant is making its greatest demand on the root, the youog 
spikes, which are just beginning to show colour, droop and wither. 
Plants presenting these symptoms should be at once rooted out 
and burned, and their places left vacant until the next May. 

After planting, the weeds should be carefully kept under, and, 
if cut down when young, they perish on the spot; but any large 
weeds should be lifted bodily out and placed in a heap on any vacant 
ground to rot or to be burned. As the roots of the lavender often 


LAVENDER. 363 


spread near the surface it is dangerous to hoe deeply. The weeds, 
as a rule, can be got out with a hoe only 1 inch deep in the blade; 
the blade should be 9 or 10 inches long, in order to reach under 
the branches without dragging them. 

The presence of the blue corn-flower and the poppy indicate a 
dry soil suitable to lavender; these and such weeds as groundsel, 
thistles, and chickweed, which seed in abundance, should be 
eradicated whilst quite young, otherwise the work will be endless 
and the plants choked. 

The ground-ivy is a fearfal enemy, the disagreeable odour of its 
foliage being so strong that a few pieces of the weed accidentally 
put into the still would spoil the entire charge of flower. Weeds 
cut down and buried before they seed mostly decay ; but couch- 
grass, the creeping-thistle, and some others are not destroyed in 
that way, and the only plan is to burn them. 

The seeds of some weeds (such as charlock) will retain vitality 
for centuries, and germinate on the first convenient opportunity. 
Some weeds, such as dock and dandelion, seem to be strengthened 
by having their tops chopped off, and shoot out again with in- 
creased vigour. 

When lands are ploughed up once a year these difficulties with 
weeds are not so great, but lavender is expected to last 4 or 5 
years at least, so the land cannot be ploughed over. 

For the convenience of gathering in the harvest and removing 
weeds, it is well to make paths, about 4 feet wide, intersecting the 
rows, about 50 yards apart, and leading up to the stillery. Thus 
if rows are planted north and south, the paths should run east and 
west and lead to a main path. 

The young plants should be prevented as far as possible from 
flowering the first year, by clipping them with shears (sheep- 
shears) ; this throws the strength into the lateral shoots, and 
makes the plants bushy and compact. 

Some growers clear out all the plants after five years, and sub- 
stitute a crop of potatoes or other vegetables. Such crops are not 
so remunerative, and the elements drawn from the soil can be 
replaced without changing the crop. If, for instance, a beginner 
start a plantation of five acres, he may find it difficult to procure 
more than enough plants for one acre at first; he then, by propa- 
gation, gradually fills up the other four acres, and each acre will 
contain plants of a different age; there will then be four acres in 


364. ODOROGRAPHIA. 


flowering condition and one acre of young cuttings. In the 
autumn of the fifth year, acre No. 1 can be cleaned, the old 
plants stacked in heaps and burned, and the ashes distributed 
over the land. This acre can then be ploughed, manured, and 
cross-ploughed, and left fallow till the next May, when it can 
be stocked with young plants out of No. 5, and there will still 
be enough young plants to plant two or three more acres, and 
sO on. 

The harvest depends upon the season: white frosts in May 
retard the growth (especially of plants near overhanging trees), 
but black frosts do not injure them so much. As a general rule 
the harvest may commence the first week of August if the weather 
be dry. The cutting commences as early as possible in the 
morning, before the dew is off. Flowers so cut seem to yield 
more oil than those cut in the heat of the day; but the necessity 
of getting the whole crop cut quickly, when once ripe and ready, 
requires cutting to go on all day long, unless many men be em- 
ployed. In wet weather it is better not to cut at all. If the days 
are bright and hot during June and July, the yield will be better 
in quality and quantity than if wet and dull. There are some- 
times seasons of unusual heat and drought; I have then noticed 
a smaller quantity yielded, but an infinitely superior quality. 
Such may be termed “ comet ” years, as in wine; and the oil of 
such years is sold on date accordingly, at a higher price than the 
ordinary. There are also years of unusual rainfall, such as 1887 ; 
the quality of the oil of such years is poor, and plants are apt to 
become diseased through excessive moisture. 

In taking the crop, the entire length of flower-stalk should be 
cut away from the pliant, but as little of the stalk as possible 
should be put into the still. It pays the time and labour of the 
distiller to cut away a great deal of this length of stalk, which would 
otherwise only fill up the still with useless material, and the still 
will hold quite four times as much flower when this is done. The 
flower should be put into the still as soon as possible to prevent 
fermentation and loss of oil by evaporation ; and until it is so put 
in, it should not be allowed to lie in the sun. 

Different materials require different methods of distillation, 
partly by reason of difficulty or facility which the oil finds in 
escaping from the glands or ducts which contain it; partly by 
reason of the higher or lower boiling-point of the oil, also taking 


LAVENDER. 365 


into consideration whether it can deteriorate by excessive heat or 
by contact with water. 

As regards the flower under consideration, it has been proved 
that actual contact with water in the body of the still yields the 
finest product. 

The body of the still should be very shallow compared with its 
width, to allow of the rapid passing over of the oil as soon as it 
escapes from the oil-glands of the flower, otherwise the first 
particles volatilized in the lower part of the still would condense in 
the upper part of the charge and remain there until volatilized a 
second time by the rising heat. The less the oil is subjected to 
the action of heat, the finer its aroma will be. With a broad 
shallow still, the area of the furnace must be proportionately large, 
i. e. if distillation by naked fire be the mode adopted, and by some 
distillers it is preferred to steam-jacketed stills. In order to 
prevent any chance of the fiower scorching, also for the con- 
venience of lifting the charge in and out, fhe flower should be 
packed in a basket made of sheet-copper, perforated with holes of 
about } of an inch diameter to allow free circulation of water. 
The perforations must be both at sides and bottom, and the basket 
furnished with a perforated copper lid and lugs on each side to 
allow of its being lifted in and out of the still by overhead tackle, 
such as a Tangye chain-pulley or a swing-crane. The copper 
basket should fit to within an inch of sides and bottom of still, 
and be provided with four copper legs to rest on. Sufficient water 
is let into the still to just reach the top of the basket. The head 
is then luted on and secured by clamps. The condenser con- 
sists of a coil of pure tin-pipe, and is connected with the head by 
a curved pipe secured at each end by a brass union, the pipe being 
passed through the unions and ground to a flush surface. 

If well constructed, the vapours will begin to condense in about 
three-quarters of an hour from the time of lighting the furnace, 
and the condenser is then copiously supplied with a flow of cold 
water. The bulk of the oil and the finest part of it will condense 
during the first half-hour. The oil which condenses afterwards is 
inferior, and should be collected in a separate receiver, 

Before loading in a fresh charge, the dirty water in the stil] 
should be siphoned out; the fire need not be drawn if fresh 
water be run in at the same time as the dirty water is coming 
out,—then, the fresh charge being packed, is lifted in, and the 


366 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


operation goes on as before, and can proceed contiauously until 
the whole crop be distilled. On large plantations it may be more 
convenient to employ several small stills than one large one. 

The process of distillation by driving dry steam through the 
flower is quite unsuitable to this flower as it scorches the oil. 

Freshly distilled oil has a herby odour, but if put away im a 
cool place in the dark and the bottles be left wacorked and loosely 
covered with cotton wool to keep out dust, these odours will pass 
off in about three months. The herby odour is partly due to 
particles of water of vegetation being held in mechanical suspension 
or in solution; this may be removed by drying the oil with calcic 
chloride. The fine mellowness of matured oil is the result of 
chemical change *. 

Spirit of wine should not be added to new oil; it would cause a 
slight etherification of very rancid odour. 

Stocks of oil should always be kept in one uniform low tempe- 
rature, inadark place. The newly distilled oil is almost colourless, 
or very pale straw-colour when viewed in bulk. It improves or 
mellows by keeping, and is then catalogued as “ matured” oil, 
with date affixed. This improvement is distinctly noticeable 
during the first five years; after which, it has a tendency to 
deteriorate by oxidation and resinification ; this may be prevented 
by admixture with 20 per cent. of grape-spirit of 60 o.p. 

Redistillation, or rectification, is said to improve the quality ; 
but this is very questionable. The less it is submitted to the 
action of heat the better. However, if necessary to rectify it, 
the first step would be to wash it thoroughly by agitation with an 
equal volume of cold water to which a little carbonate of magnesia 
had been mixed; allow it to rest in a cool place to separate, then 
draw off the supernatant oil and distil it with an equal bulk of fresh 
water, the heat being applied by a steam-jacket, and the distillate 
collected in two portions, the first four-fifths being retained and 
the remainder kept apart as inferior. It may also be rectified by 
Dragendorfi’s process. (See Rosemary, p. 373.) 

Pure English oil of lavender consists of a mixture im variable 
proportions of an oxygenated oil and a hydrocarbon Cy)Hy,, and 


* It has recently been discovered by Raoul Pictet that the mellow flavour 
and fine bouquet observable in old brandy can be rapidly produced in young 
brandy by subjecting it to the action of intense cold (produced by the sudden 
evaporation of methyl-chloride). 


LAVENDER. 367 


various writers have affirmed that it contains in solution a 
stereoptene identical with camphor, but whether recently distilled 
oil contains it, is doubtful. Its sp. gr. is variable between 0°876 
and 0°880 at 15° C. It is completely soluble in three volumes of 
alcohol of 0°894. 

The principal adulterants are French oils of LZ. vera and L. spica, 
oil of turpentine, and alcohol. 

The presence of French oils is recognized by the keen sense of 
smell possessed by accustomed buyers. The sp. gr. of pure French 
oils of ZL. vera varies from 0°885 to 0°887. The commercial 
French oils are very frequently adulterated with turpentine, which 
has a sp. gr. ranging from 0°856 to 0°870. 

Oils containing turpentine and pure French oils of sp. gr. over 
0°890 are less soluble in a given volume of alcohol of a given 
strength than are pure English oil and pure French oils of sp. gr. 
0°885 to 0°889. 

Dragendorff found * that 1 c. c. of oil of lavender (prepared by 
himself) dissolved in 2°3 c. c. of 65 per cent. alcohol (according to 
Tralle’s aleoholometer, which gives the percentage volume for the 
temperature of 60° F.), the observation being made at a tempe- 
rature between 15° and 20° C. He also found that on experi- 
menting with ten different kinds of oil of turpentine, most of them 
required 3°5 to 3°75 of 92 per cent. alcohol to dissolve 1 ¢. c., and 
that 1 c. c. of a mixture composed of 10 parts oil of turpentine 
and 90 parts oil of lavender did not form quite a clear mixture 
with 5 c. ec. of 65 per cent. alcohol. 

On these figures it would be natural to expect that some reliance 
could be placed on a test which has been frequently given, viz. 
the solubility of 1 part of lavender oil in 3 parts of 70 volumes 
per cent. alcohol at 16° C.; but some recent investigations tend to 
show that pure oils may be brought under suspicion by this test, 
and that actual adulteration with 20 per cent. of turpentine is not 
detected by it +. It would therefore be well if distillers who have 
yet on hand some stock of their own make (in which of course 
they can rely for purity) to repeat the experiments. 

The optical rotation of pure Mitcham oil has been recorded as 
— 4° 2'in a column of 50 mm. and that of French oils —4° 15’ to 


* Neues Repert. fiir Pharm. xxii. i.; and Pharm. Journ. [5] vi. p. 541. 
+ Schimmel & Co., § Bericht,’ Oct. 1890. 


368 ODOROGRAPHIA, 


—9° 20! in a column of 100 mm., but the figures are too variable 
to serve as a test. The rotatory powers of turpentines also vary 
according to the source from which they are derived. 

The presence of alcohol may be detected by agitating the oil with 
a few small pieces of calcic chloride; these remain unaltered in a 
pure oil, but dissolve in one containing alcohol, and the resulting 
solution separates, forming a distinct stratum at the bottom of the 
vessel. When only a very little alcohol is present, the pieces 
merely change their form and exhibit the action of the solvent on 
their angles or edges, which become more or less obtuse or 
rounded. 

Santaline, the colouring-matter of Red Sanders wood, is nearly 
insoluble in pure oil of lavender, and exerts no marked influence 
on it, but it is freely soluble in oil adulterated with rectified spirit. 
Auniline-red can be used in the same way; a drop of oil let fall on 
a crystal of “magenta” and gently pressed will not dissolve the 
colour unless alcohol be present. 

By Davy’s molyhdic-acid test for alcohol in fluids generally, 
it is asserted that an admixture of one per cent. of alcohol in 
essential oils can be detected. One part of molybdie acid is 
dissolved with gentle heat in 10 parts by weight of pure con- 
centrated sulphuric acid, and kept in a well-stoppered bottle to 
prevent absorption of moisture. A little of the oil under exami- 
nation is agitated with a small quantity of distilled water in a 
pipette, the small orifice being closed. When the oil and water 
have separated, a few drops of the watery portion is then allowed 
to run out and come in contact with 3 or 4 drops of the molyhdic- 
acid solution placed in a white porcelain capsule. If the oil has 
been adulterated with alcohol, an intense azure-blue coloration 
will develop in a few moments *. 

The revenue of profit per acre depends much on the season and 
age of the plants, but an average yield of 25 lbs. weight of oil per 
acre may be reckoned if worked carefully, and the weather be 
favourable. I have, in fact, gathered 35 lbs. per acre in a good 
year. Much depends on the energy and personal superintendence 
of the grower and care in the distillation. Land cultivated in a 
slovenly manner rarely yields much profit in any kind of farming, 
and if the distillation of this flower be left to the care of imex- 


* Pharm. Journ. [5] vili, p. 201. 


LAVENDER. 369 


perienced or untrustworthy people, the oil may be either spoiled 
or “ manipulated.” 

A scientific examination of perfectly pure French oil of lavender 
has recently been executed in the laboratory of those indefatigable 
investigators Messrs. Schimmel & Co. of Leipzig, the results of 
which are of such practical importance in the evaluation of the 
oil and of such interest generally, that it may here be allowable to 
quote at some length from the details published up to the present 
(April, 1892) by that firm:—Lavender oil contains only minute 
traces of low-boiling constituents. Cineol, which occurs, as is 
well known, in the Lavandula spica in considerable quantity, 
could not be discovered, nor could camphor, which, according to 
old authorities, is said to be a most important constituent of 
lavender oil. 

The principal constituent of the oil is an alcohol, C,)H,.O, and 
its acetic ester. This alcohol boils between 197° and 199° C. ; 
sp. gr. 0°869 at 20° C.; optical rotation —10° 35! in 100 mm. 
tube. Refraction equivalent for sodium light, 1°464. 

If this alcohol be heated with acid sulphate of potassium, or 
with dilute sulphuric acid, or other dehydrating agents, a mixture 
of hydrocarbons is obtained, amongst which Dipentine, cha- 
racterized by the tetrabromide melting at 125° C., and Terpinen, 
melting-point of the nitrite 155° C., could be detected. By oxi- 
dation of the alcohol, an aldehyde of the composition C,,H,,O 
was obtained, which is identical with Citral (Semmler’s geranium 
aldehyde). The sp. gr. of this aldehyde is 0°898 at 15° C., boiling- 
point at 10 mm. pressure 105°-107° C., refraction equivalent 1°490. 
By the action of dehydrating agents Cymol, (C,)H,,) was formed. 

The alcohol of lavender oil combines with four atoms of 
bromine. With hydrochloric acid, a liquid compound of the 
composition C,)H,,Cl, results. By the action of acid anhydrides 
the corresponding esters may be prepared. The acetic, propionic, 
butyric, valerianic, and benzoic acid esters were actually prepared, 
all of which are pleasant smelling liquids. The acetic ester 
arouses considerable interest, first because it occurs ready formed 
in lavender oil, and next because it possesses such a characteristic 
bergamot odour that it immediately suggested its presence in 
bergamot oil—an hypothesis which proved to be quite correct. 
Bergamot oil in fact contains about 40 per cent. of this ester. 


On comparison of lavender alcohol with numerous other known 
2B 


370 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


compounds of similar composition, it was eventually found to be 
identical with Linalool, which was discovered by Semmler in 
Mexican Lignaloe oil *. Linalool and its acetic ester are also 
contained in Petit grain oil. 


RosEMARY. 


Although the genus Rosmarinus consists of but one species, the 
aspect of the plant in different countries and soils presents differ- 
ences easily perceptible to the eye of the cultivator, and great 
differences are recognized in the fragrance of the perfume developed 
in its leaves. The English oil has a greater value per ounce than 
some of the foreign oils have per pound, and this difference is only 
in a slight degree due to more careful distillation. The difference 
in the physical characters of the English and foreign oils is also 
very marked. 

Rosmarinus officinalis is, in its general appearance, a dense 
branching shrub, with linear sessile leaves, stalkless, and the edges 
recurved, green, smooth and shining above, and whitish beneath. 
The pale blue blossoms, variegated with purple and white, make 
their appearance early in the summer. The plant is evergreen, 
and rises to a height of 4 or 5 feet in some situations; but in very 
calcareous soil it is much smaller, although more fragrant and more 
hardy. When the roots are well drained the plant will stand severe 
frosts, although itis a native of the South of Europe ; but in rich 
moist land it is far more susceptible to frost. The generic name 
Rosmarinus is evidently derived from the Latin—ros, dew, and 
marinus, in allusion to its inhabiting the sea-coast. There is a 
white-striped leaf variety, called the “silver rosemary,” and a 
yellow-striped variety, called the “ golden rosemary,” but they 
are not usually cultivated. 

In establishing a plantation it is not well to risk planting foreign 
seed, as they may produce rubbish; but preferably obtain cuttings 
from English-grown plants and patiently multiply them. If 
planted in August cuttings strike rapidly, especially if pulled off 
with a “ heel” by bending back a young shoot until it separates 
from the branch. These can be struck in light loam in boxes 
holding about fifty each ; they can then be put in the shade and 


* Ber. Deutsch. chem. Ges. xxiv. p. 207. 


ROSEMARY. o71 
watered, and kept under cover during the winter. The following 
April they can be bedded out, 18 inches apart, in rows 4 feet apart, 
on a dry, calcareous, sloping ground—preferably with a chalk sub- 
soil. The chalk, into which the roots will penetrate, holds sufficient 
moisture in summer, and yet provides good drainage in winter. 

At the beginning of September the young shoots are carefully 
and evenly cut, with a strong pair of sheep-shears, right down to 
the wood; and the plants soon form a compact stunted hedge, 
about 18 inches to 2feet high. The old leaves remain on the plant 
a considerable time, not shriveliing off on the lower and inner 
boughs as do those of lavender. They want but very little manure, 
but on rich ground as much cinder-ash as possible. 

The young shoots and trimmings taken off at the end of August 
or beginning of September are distilled precisely in the same way 
as lavender-flowers ; but as much as possible of the woody parts 
should be separated, as they uselessly fill up the still and impart a 
turpentiny rankness to the distillate. If rosemary is not distilled 
very quickly after it is cut it is liable to heat, changing its cha- 
racter ; and if spread out till the next day it loses some of its 
fragrance. When put into the still the water should just cover it. 
The same still can be used as for lavender; but of course another con- 
denser. Also, as the particles of oil condensing are heavier and much 
smaller than those of lavender, it is necessary to employ a deeper 
Florentine receiver, so that they shall not be carried downward by 
the rush of water and escape by the waste-pipe. A piece of smooth 
wood floating in the receiver can also be used to break the down- 
ward current of the water. It takes rather longer to distil out the 
oil than does the same bulk of lavender. The oil which comes over 
during the first 30 minutes after starting boiling is the finest ; the 
receiver can then be changed, and the operation continued until no 
more oil is seen to come over. The oil should not be taken out of 
the receivers the same day, but stood in a cool place (or in water) 
until the next day, by which time the oil will be bright and can be 
removed. 

The new oil requires to be carefully dried with fresh calcic 
chloride, as the water held mechanically im suspension, or in 
solution, is very unpleasant, somewhat reminding of fish-brine, or 
trimethylamine. 

The oil is almost colourless, or with the slightest tinge of straw- 
colour ; it is very mobile and refractive. The sp. gr. of Surrey 

2B2 


372 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


oil has been found to be 0:901, of Sussex oil (1889) 0-911, ditto 
(1890) 0:924%*. It rotates polarized light to the left; several 
foreign oils of rosemary rotate it to the right. Between 16° and 
17° C, it dissolves in all proportions in 90-volume per cent. 
alcohol, forming a clear solution. The admixture of turpentine, 
which in commercial oils is often found to the extent of 50 per 
cent., may be sought for by Langbeck’s test +. He states that 
oil of rosemary should dissolve one-tenth part of salicylic acid, but 
if it contain 10 per cent. of turpentine the solubility is reduced to 
1 in 24; oil of turpentine, when freshly distilled, dissolving only 
G25 part. | 

Oil of rosemary is very frequently adulterated with petroleum 
(necessarily the heavier portions of petroleum). It may be 
detected and approximately estimated by exposing the oil to the 
heat of a water-bath in an open dish until the odour of rosemary 
is practically lost, the residue consisting of petroleum and a slight 
resinous portion which is always left by the oil. Oil so adulterated 
is of course less soluble in alcohol proportionately to the amount 
of adulteration. Pure English oil is soluble in 5 volumes of 
rectified spirit of 0°838; some adulterated samples tested in this 
way required from 20 to 30 volumes of such spirit to effect 
solution. Samples of rosemary oil adulterated with alcohol 
naturally require a less volume of the solvent than pure oil; some 
samples tested required 34 and 43 volumes, according to the amount 
of adulteration. Alcohol may also be detected by agitating the oil 
with a particle of “ magenta: if pure no colour is imparted to the 
oil, but if adulterated the dye dissolves, the colour being deeper 
the greater the quantity of alcohol present ¢. These tests may be 
apphed to other oils; but the magenta-test is not applicable to 
all—for instance, oil of cloves. 

The sp. gr. of pure Italian (Dalmatian) oil of rosemary has been 
found to be 0-901 to 0:907 at 15° C., and it requires 12 volumes 
of alcohol of 0°864 to effect solution§. The sp. gr. of Spanish oil 
has been observed as 0°892 at 15° C., and the French at various 
figures between 0°88] and 0-907, but there seems some diversity of 
opinion as to the true sp. gr. of pure French oil. Messrs. Schimmel 


* Cripps, Pharm. Journ, [3] xxi. p. 987. 
+ Year-Book of Pharmacy, 1885, p. 126. 
t Cripps, Pharm. Journ. [8] xx. p. 415. 

§ Bericht, Oct. 1888. 


ROSEMARY. 373 


aver that it should not lie below 0°900, or in any case not lower 
than 0°890*. French oil of rosemary examined by Bruylants + 
was found to contain 80 per cent. of a levogyrate hydrocarbon 
HC, 4 to 5 per cent. of Borneol C,)H,,0, and 6 to 8 per cent. of 
a camphor C,)H,,0. 

All oils of rosemary are apt to turn yellow and oxidize by age, 
especially if kept in bottles which are badly stoppered or not full. 
Such resinified oils can simply be rectified by Dragendorft’s process 
with a current of steam. Small quantities can so be operated upon 
in a tubulated glass retort, into which a glass tube is passed almost 
to the bottom; this tube, containing a little light packing of 
cotton, is connected with a flask in which water is heated to strong 
ebullition, by which means steam is passed through the oil. About 
68 per cent. of oil can thus be recovered, quite colourless and 
mobile, and almost as good as freshly prepared oil. The residue 
in the retort consists principally of rosemary camphor. 

The Cedrella Rosmarinus (Loureiro, ‘ Cochinchinensis,’ p. 160), 
or ‘ Rosemary bastard-cedar,” is a shrub of about 4 feet in height, 
native of Cochin China and about Macao in China, and is said to 
yield an oil very similar to rosemary oil. 


* Bericht, April 1891. 
f+ Journ. de Pharm. [4] xxix. p. 508. 


o74 ODOROGRAPHIA. 


a 


ADDENDA. 


Adulteration of Santal-wood Oil.—Mesnard states * that by the 
application of ordinary pure sulphuric acid it is possible to 
recognize the presence of oil of cedar, cubebs, copaiba, or turpentine 
in oil of santal. If the oil be pure a viscid liquid is produced, 
which becomes pasty and is rapidly transformed into a solid mass 
adhering to the glass. This mass is characterized by its light grey- 
blue or greyish colour and the dusty appearance it gradually 
assumes. In adulterated samples the resmous mass does not 
solidify entirely, and remains of a deep tint and distinctly brilliant 
lustre. The test 1s said to be so delicate that it is possible to 
determine by the following method the approximate proportion of 
adulteration :—Two or three centigrams of the oil mixed with a 
drop of pure sulphuric acid are placed on to the surface of a piece 
of ground glass, and the flattened end of a small glass rod applied 
to the mixture. The upper end of the glass rod being attached to 
the lower surface of the scale-pan of a balance, the degree of 
adhesiveness of the oil to the glass (indicating the degree of purity) 
can be read off. 


Source of Ambergris.—Jourdain + considers that the micro- 
scopical and chemical examination of ambergris show it to be of a 
similar nature to intestinal calculi. He was struck by the presence 
of numerous remains of cephalopods in the mass, and thinks this 
fact may have some bearing upon the existence of this odorous 
substance. He assumes that it may even have been produced by 


* Comptes Rendus, exiv. p. 1546, 27th June, 1892. 
+ Ibid. p. 1557 ; and Pharm, Jcurn. [3] xxiii. p. 82. 


ADDENDA. ies 


the cephalopods swallowed in large quantities by the Cetacea. As 
evidence, he points to the fact that several molluscs exhale a pro- 
nounced odour, which lasts after their death and even desiccation. 
The ancients are known to have utilized various species for the sake 
of their odour; and M. Jourdain suggests that the action of the 
biliary products upon the cephalopodic perfume may modify it and 
result in the production of ambergris. 


Lemon-grass Oil.—A sample of Ceylon oil of lemon-grass 
examined by Dodge * was found to have a sp. gr. of 0°886 at 22° 
and 0°8955 at 15°°5. On distillation, the boiling-point was found 
to range between 200° and 240°, a small residue not being volatile 


at the latter temperature. The principal fraction came over between 
220° and 225°C. 


The identification of a new species of Vanilla, V. ensifolia, Rolfe, 
from New Granada, a specimen of which is in the herbarium of 
the Pharmaceutical Society, has now been confirmed by the author- 
ities at Kew, and its botanical analysis fully described in the 
‘Kew Bulletin, No. 66, p. 141. The species is a very distinct 
one, easily recognized by its narrow sword-shaped leaves +. 


* Am, Chem. Journ. xu. p. 558. 
+ Pharm. Journ. [3] xxiii. p. 85, July 50th, 1892. 


n 7 vier 
wo te pr 1 
*) ede he a te ae My i a 
ota } cn 
@ ' a 
aed nN 
} i 
izle 
if so) w 
a 
j F R 
* 
/ 
t.. 
if 
" 
f 
as 
‘ 
1 
i 
‘ 
: 
. 
" 
! 7 
a yy >= 
im 
‘ 
ee : 
ip 
‘ 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


AS 
Abir, 25. 
Acacia homalophylia, 113. 
species, 114. 
Achillea moschata, 20. 
Acrolein, 140. 
Adoxa moschitellina, 20. 
ranthus fragrans, 134. 
African santal, 324. 
Agallochum, 283. 
Aglaia, 86. 
Agrimonia odorata, 24. 
Alan-gilan, 117. 
Algum, 327. 
Almonds, 175. 
Aloe-wood, 283. 
Aloexylon, 286. ° 
Aloysia citriodora, 90. 
Altingia excelsa, 249. 
Alyxia buxifolia, 134. 
Amberboa moschata, 20. 
Ambergris, 15. 
source of, 374. 
Amabrette, UG), 
Ammonium salicylite, 49. 
Amygdalin, 177. 
Amygdalus communis, 175. 
Amylbenzene, 240. 
Amyris altissima, 291. 
»  ambrosiaca, 291. 
»  comiphora, 267. 
»  Gileadensis, 270. 
»  Kataf, 266. 
Andropogon citratus, 89. 
Sragrans, 47. 


‘ Iwarancusa, 311. 
‘ Lanigerum, 311. 
33 muricatus, 309. 
yi Nardus, 50, 88. 


Schenanthus, 44, 
Anethum fragrans, 134. 
Anisic aldehyde, 140, 189. 
Anona, 130. 


Anthoxanthum odoratum, 134. 


Antilope Dorcas, 12. 
Aplotaxis lappa, 109. 
Aquilaria Agallocha, 4, 283. 
Argyreia Bona-nox, 230. 
Artabotrys odoratissimus, 180. 
suaveolens, 131. 

Artificial benzoic acid, 237. 

3 camphor, 341. 


<s cinnamie acid, 199. 

a civet, 10. 

oe coumarin, 137. 

A essence of hyacinth, 97-101. 


% essence of jasmine, 95. 
- heliotrope, 188. 


an musk, 6, 

“ odour of geranium, 50. 

55 oil of bitter ah Gaes 180. 
- oil of cloves, 227. 

is rose odcurs, 49. 


- styrolene, 245. 
vanillin, 162. 
Asarum Canadense, 48. 
Atar, 24. 
“ Aubepine,” 189. 
Aveneine, 170. 
Azulene, 305. 


B. 


Balm of Gilead, 270. 
Balsam of Gilead, 270. 
» of Mecca, 270. 
a 5 estimation of, 273. 
» Peru, 250: 
3 » estimation of, 254. 
a 4 white, 260. 
», of Son Sonate, 261. 
2 Loluy26ir 
» estimation of, 264. 
Balsamo Blanco, 260. 
Balsamodendron Ehrenbergianum, 270. 
i Gileadense, 270. 


é Kéfal, 265. 


Balsamodendron Kataf, 266. 


2s Mukul, 267. 
a Myrrha, 268. 
Hs Opobalsanum, 270. 
Playfairii, 267. 
Bdellium, African, 266. 
A Indian, 266. 
os opaque, 267. 
8 perfumed, 266. 


Bean-flower, odour resembling, 261. 


Benzaldehyde, 180. 
Benzoic acid, 235. 
Benzoin, 282. 
Benzoylacetone, eo 
Benzoyl-eugenol, 2 
Benzyl acetate, iol. 
7 alcohol, 100. 
,,  ¢chloride, 181. 
»  cinnamate, aut 253 
Bergamot orange, 7 
Ke odour beet 346. 
Bissa-bol, 266. 
Bitter almonds, 175. 
» orange, 64. 
Black Frankincense leaf, 243. 
re + oil, 245, 
,,  storax, 248. 
Blumea balsamifera, 345. 
Borneene, 348. 
Borny] acetate, 542. 
Bos moschatus, 12. 
Boswellia Carteri, 275. 


re Frereana, 278. 
ec glabra, 267. = 
a serrata, 267, 278. 


Bourbon Tea, 134, 

Brazilian Lign-alce, 291. 
Bulgarian method of distilling, 28. 
Bursera Delpechiana, 288. 
Butylbenzene, 240. 


C. 
Cserut 349. 
Cajuputene, 351. 

- chloride, 551. 

i di-hydrate, 351. 
Cake storax, 248. 
Caleium salicylite, 49. 
Camel-grass, 311. 
Camphene, 541. 
Camphire, 313. 
Camphor, 333. 

= artificial, 341, 342. 

- Borneo, 333. 

% Cedar, 329. 

5 Chinese, 336. 

i of Feverfew, 346. 


a Formosan, 336. 
ss Japan, 336. 


Laurel, 335. 


INDEX. 


Camphor, Ngai, 343. 
oil Say. 
Camphorie acid, 541. 
Camphorophone, 342. 
Cananga odorata, 117. 
Carbon disulphide, purification of, 59. 
Carduus nutans, 19. 
Carlines, 115. 
Car, pobalsamun, Jia 
Caryophylline, 250. 
Caryophylius aromaticus, 219. 
Cassia, 2U3. 

;, buds: 208: 

ol 20G: 

» vera, 208. 

Cassie, 114. 
Cedar, 328. 

» eamphor, 529. 

»,  Hlorida, 3382: 

» Honduras, 330. 

»  Andian, 33l. 

» Jamaica, 330. 

,, of Lebanon, 351. 
Cedrella alternifolia. ool. 

angustifolia, 3 5 

4 Bermudiana, 331. 

. Braziliensis, 331. 

- odorata, 330. 

, Rosmarinus, 373. 

Toona, 331. 
Cedrene, 329. 
Cedrus Deodara, 331. 

,» Liban, 331. 
Cerambyx moschata, 18. 
Cerasus Laurocerasus, 185. 
Ceratopetalum apetalum, 134. 
Cestrum nocturnum, 20. 
Chamedorea fragrans, 49. 
Chamezleons, 113. 

Champae, 124. 

Champeya, 129. 

Chelonia cacuana, 18. 

Cherry-Laurel, 185. 

Chloranthus, 87. 

Chloride of sylvestrine, 77. 

Cinnamaldehyde 198, 212, 24 

Cinnamein, 255. 

Cinnamice acid, 199, 216, 246. 
i, alcohol, 99. 

Cinnamol, 245, 

Cinnamomum Camphora, 339. 


- Cassia, 206. 
. Culilawan, 231. 
rr Zeylanicum, 191. 
Cinnamon, Brazilian, 197. 
7 Cayenne, 197. 


¥ Ceylon, 191. 
Pa China, 203. 
¥ Indian, 196, 
" Java, 197. 
% oil of, 197. 


INDEX. 


Cinnamon leaf oi], 201. 
Cinnyl alcohol, 99, 247. 
»  cinnamate, 244, 253. 
Citral, 36, 369. 
Citrine odours, 64. 
Citron, 65. 
Citronella, 88. 
Citronellic aldehyde, 50. 
Citronellol, 89. 
Citrus aurantium, 64. 
bergamia, 75. 
» Bigaradia, 64. 
decumanum, 74. 
»  Gmetta, 72. 
- limonum, 65. 
Medica, 65. 
», nobilis, 74. 
» cultivation in America, 78. 
Civet, 10. 
Clove bark, 231. 
Clove-Pink, 225, 230, 231. 
‘ odour resembling, 264. 
Cloves, 219. 
,  Odours analogous, 
Clove-oil, artificial, 227. 
estimation of, 228. 
price of, 225 
e trom the flower- stalks, 226. 
Cochin-China santal, 527, 
Coleus aromaticus, 307. 
Colliguaja odorifera, 48. 
Conerete oils, 63. See also Processes, 
various. 
Coniferin, 163. 
Convolvulus scoparius, 48. 
Cortex Thuris, 245. 
»  Lhymiamatis, 248, 247. 
Costus, 109. 
Coumaric acid, 138. 
Coumarin, 152. 
artificial, 157. 
odours resembling, 1-40. 
53 various sources of, 135. 
Cratequs oxyacantha, 189. 
Culilabanus Papuanus, 231. 
Cupressus, 332. 
Curagao, 85. 
Cyanus orientalis moschatus, 20. 
Cymol, 47. 
Cytisus laburnum, 85. 


230, 231. 


” 


” 


” 


” 


1D). 


Daniellia thurifera, 280. 
Daphnetin, 141. 

Deer’s tongue, 133. 
Delphinium Brunonianwn, 16. 
glaciale, 17. 
heterocarpum, 118. 
moschatum, 17. 


” 


9 


Deodar, 331 

Dhelum, 206, 

Dimethyleoumarin, 159. 
Dimethylprotocatechuie acid, 167. 
Dipentene, 36. 
Dipentylene-glycol, 96. 
Dryobanalops Camphora, 333. 
Dysoxylon Fraserianuin, 48. 


E. 


Hagle-wood, 285. 
Ecuelle, 66. 
Elaphrium Aloexylon, 290. 
Emulsin, 176. 
Hnfleurage, 55. 
Epicharis, 327. 
Eponge, 66. 
Erodiuim moschatum, 19. 
Ethyl benzene, 94. 

», benzoate, 239. 

»  ¢cinnamate, 2U1. 
Ethylcoumarin, 159. 
Kthyl hydrocinnamate, 201. 
Hugenia caryophyllata, 21%. 
Eugenol, 169, 227. 
ELuryangium Sumbul. 17. 
Eurybia argophylla, 19. 
Evodia, 87. 
Exocarpus latifolia, 326. 


F. 


Fanave, 134. 
Fat, purified, 52. 
Fiji santal, 325. 
Flores cassie immature, 208. 

aa varastes, abs 
Florida cedar, 332. 
Frankincense, 275. 

i. black, 243. 

West African, 280. 


9 


G. 


Gardenia citriodora, 85. 
Gendarussa vulgaris, 307. 
Geonoma, species, 114. 
Geraniol, 47. 
Geranium, 42. 
odour resembling, 51. 

Geranyl chloride, 47. 

“ ether, 43. 

0 yalorster 48. 
Geum urbanum, 226. 
Ginger-grass, 44. 
Giroflé, 226. 
Gnaphalium odoratissimum, 20. 


380 


Googul, 267. 

Grass oils, 308. 
Guaiacol, 171. 

Guarea Swartzii, 19. 
Guiana Lign-aloe, 291. 
Gyrinus natator, 16. 


lake 


Hawthorn, 189. 
Heliotrope, 187. 
Heliotropine, 188. 
Hennah, 313. 

Hibiscus Abelmoschus, 19. 
Honduras cedar, 330. 
Hotai, 268. 

Hound's tongue, 133. 
Hyacinth, 96. 


i odour resembling, 2 


Hyacinthus muscari, 20. 
at species, 103. 

Hyawa, 291. 

Hydrocinnamice acid, 201. 


Icica altissima, 291. 
5, decandra, 292. 
5, Icicariba, 292. 

Thlang, 117. 

Incense of Java, 252. 

> oil, 243. 
Indian cedar, 331. 

., oil of geranium, 44. 
Ipomea grandiflora, 230. 
Tris, species, 106. 
Isobutylbenzene, 240. 
lsonitrosobenzyl ether, 239. 


J. 


Jacinthe, 96. 
Jamaica cedar, 330. 
Jasmine, $)1. 

syrup of, 94. 
Jonquil, 95. 
Joss-sticks, 327. 
Juncus odoratus, 311. 
Juniperus Virginiana, 328. 
Justicia Gendarussa, 307. 


K. 


Kafal, 266, 
Kalambak, 287. 
Kaya-pootie, 349. 
Keora, 127. 


47, 253. 


INDEX. 


Keora-ka-utter, 129. 
Koot, 112. 


L. 
Laurus Camphora, 335, 


» Culilaban, 231. 
Lavender, 354. 


3 oil, estimation of, 367. 


Lavandula, species, 355. 
. vera, 856. 
Lawsonia inermis, 313. 
Lemon-grass, 89, 375. 
Lettsomia Bona-nox, 230. 
Liatris odoratissima, 133. 
Licaria Kanali, 48. 
Lign-aloe, Brazilian. 291. 
- Chinese, 286. 
. Guiana, 291. 
~ Mexican, 288. 
sy Oriental, 283. 
Lime, 72. 
Lippia citriodora, 90. 


Liquidambar Altingiana, 245, 249. 
Formosana, 249. 


9 


if liquid, 248. 


” 


Orientalis, 242, 247. 


Styraciflua, 248. 


br white, 249. 
Liquid storax, 242. 
Lubdn Jawi, 232. 
Lubin Mayeti, 276. 


M. 


Macassar Santal wood, 323. 

Maceration, 52. 

Mal-oil, 19. 

Maltese orange, 74. 

Malus Medica, 65. 

Malva moschata alba, 19. 

Mandarine, 74. 

Marlea Vitiensis, 19. 

Melaleuca acuminata, 354. 
Cajuputi, 349. 


2 decussata, 352. 

2 ericttolia, BA3. 

= genistifolia. 353. 
is leucadendron, 350. 
be) ” 


i linarifolia, 353. 
- minor, BA9. 
r SQUATTOSA, 353. 
fe uncinata, 853. 
= viridifolia, 352. 
a Wilsonii, 353. 
Melilotol, 136. 
Mclilotus officinalis, 135, 


var. /ancifolia, 


e 


EE  ——— —— a 


SN EEE rere eee eee 


——— 


Mesua ferrea, 129. 
Meta-cinnamein, 253. 
Methyl benzoate, 238. 
Methylbenzylenic ether, 49. 
Methyl chloride, 60. 

- cinnamate, 20]. 
B Methyleoumarin, 139. 
Methylumbelliferon, 142. 
Metrosidzros, 352. 


Mexican santal-wood bark, 326. 


Michelia Champacu, \2+ 
Mignonette, 101. 

a Jamaica, 314. 
Mimulus moschatus, 19. 
Mirbane, 182. 

Moschus Altaicus, 2. 


» moschiferus, 1. 
Mukul, 267. 
Musk, 1. 


;, alligator, 13. 
» an